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QUESTIONS OF FACT ABOUT THE LIABILITY OF THE ELEVATOR COMPANY UNDER A NEGLIGENT MAINTENANCE THEORY OR A RES IPSA LOQUITUR THEORY REQUIRED THE DENIAL OF THE COMPANY’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; PLAINTIFF ALLEGED THE ELEVATOR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED AND THEN STOPPED (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined there were questions of fact whether the elevator company (Otis) was liable for injuries allegedly caused by the sudden acceleration and stop of the elevator under a negligent maintenance theory and a res ipsa loquitur theory:

The plaintiff’s expert, Patrick Carrajat, an elevator and escalator consultant, whose affidavit the plaintiff submitted in opposition to Otis’s summary judgment motion, concurred with McPartland’s [defendant’s expert’s] opinion that “the probable cause of the accident was a clipped interlock.” Carrajat disagreed, however, with McPartland’s contention that a clipped interlock was something Otis could not reasonably have been expected to prevent. In Carrajat’s view, proper inspection and maintenance would have revealed either improper adjustment, loosening or shifting, or excessive wear of certain components. Carrajat also explained why he disagreed with McPartland’s opinion that external factors, such as a person making contact with the hallway elevator doors or some sort of debris caught in the elevator’s “door sill,” could have caused the accident. …

The plaintiff also raised a triable issue of fact as to Otis’s liability under the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur by submitting proof that the sudden descent and abrupt stop of the elevator was an occurrence that would not ordinarily occur in the absence of negligence, that the maintenance and service of the elevator was in the exclusive control of Otis, and that no act or negligence on the part of the plaintiff contributed to the occurrence of the accident … . Syrnik v Board of Mgrs. of the Leighton House Condominium, 2021 NY Slip Op 05603, Second Dept 10-13-21

 

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