PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT FELL DOWN A STAIRWAY LEADING TO THE RESTAURANT BASEMENT WHICH WAS ACCESSED BY AN UNMARKED, UNLOCKED DOOR; ALTHOUGH THE ACCIDENT WAS NOT WITNESSED, DEFENDANT RESTAURANT’S SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DENIED.

The Third Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined questions of fact precluded summary judgment in favor of defendant restaurant. Plaintiff’s decedent fell down a flight of stairs leading from an unmarked door to the basement of the restaurant. Although no one witnessed the accident, circumstantial evidence supported the view that the stairway and unmarked door presented a dangerous condition which caused plaintiff’s fall:

The evidence established numerous questions of fact as to whether the staircase presented a dangerous condition to those using it, the most obvious being that the door opened over descending stairs … . [The owner’s] regular use of the stairs and his personal installation of the handrail established a question of fact as to notice or creation of the dangerous condition … . Finally, although the fall was unwitnessed, a jury could logically infer from the evidence regarding the risks that the staircase posed, the evidence of previous falls on the staircase and the evidence that decedent was healthy, agile and not visibly intoxicated at the time of the accident that the dangerous condition of the staircase caused her fall … . Acton v 1906 Rest. Corp., 2017 NY Slip Op 01431, 3rd Dept 2-23-17

NEGLIGENCE (PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT FELL DOWN A STAIRWAY LEADING TO THE RESTAURANT BASEMENT WHICH WAS ACCESSED BY AN UNMARKED, UNLOCKED DOOR, ALTHOUGH THE ACCIDENT WAS NOT WITNESSED, DEFENDANT RESTAURANT’S SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DENIED)/STAIRWAYS (PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT FELL DOWN A STAIRWAY LEADING TO THE RESTAURANT BASEMENT WHICH WAS ACCESSED BY AN UNMARKED, UNLOCKED DOOR, ALTHOUGH THE ACCIDENT WAS NOT WITNESSED, DEFENDANT RESTAURANT’S SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DENIED)