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THE DEFECT, A PROTRUDING BOLT UNDER THE HANDRAIL IN A STAIRWAY, WAS TRIVIAL AND NONACTIONABLE, THE $650,000 VERDICT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SET ASIDE (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department determined defendant’s motion to set aside the verdict in this slip and fall case should have been granted. The defect, a protruding bolt, was deemed trivial and nonactionable:

… [T]he plaintiff’s evidence at trial included her own testimony, the testimony of her expert engineer, as well as photographs identified and marked by the plaintiff showing the alleged defect as it existed at the time of the subject accident. Accepting such evidence as true, and affording the plaintiff every favorable inference that may be properly drawn from the facts presented … , the alleged defect was not actionable. Considering the appearance and dimensions of the protruding bolt, as well as its location on the sidewall of the staircase, directly underneath a handrail and away from the walking surface of the stairway… , the defect was trivial as a matter of law. Accordingly, the defendant’s motion pursuant to CPLR 4401 for judgment as a matter of law dismissing the complaint should have been granted … . Rambarran v New York City Tr. Auth., 2019 NY Slip Op 00484, Second Dept 1-23-19

 

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