You are here: / / ​ THE ATTEMPT TO HOLD DEFENDANT PLUMBING COMPANY LIABLE FOR THE LEAK W...

​ THE ATTEMPT TO HOLD DEFENDANT PLUMBING COMPANY LIABLE FOR THE LEAK WHICH CAUSED PLAINTIFF’S SLIP AND FALL RELIED ON PURE SPECULATION; THE DOCTRINE OF RES IPSA LOQUITUR FAILS BECAUSE DEFENDANT DID NOT HAVE EXCLUSIVE CONTROL OVER THE BUILDING’S PLUMBING (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendant plumbing company’s motion for summary judgment in this slip and fall case should have been granted. The First Department held the attempt to connect the pipe-repair to the leak which caused the slip and fall was pure speculation:

Plaintiff slipped and fell on water that spilled out of a garbage bin positioned to catch a leak from a pipe in the ceiling of the basement storeroom in a building owned by plaintiff’s employer. About two months before plaintiff’s accident, defendant had repaired a sanitary waste line pipe in a basement corridor outside the storeroom in which the accident occurred. Upon these undisputed facts established by the record, defendant should have been granted summary judgment, as there is nothing but speculation to connect defendant’s work on the waste pipe in the corridor with the leak from the water pipe in the storeroom that appeared two months later and caused plaintiff’s mishap.

We note that plaintiff cannot rely upon the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, because he has not established that the pipes were within defendant’s exclusive control … . Defendant made a showing, which plaintiff failed to rebut, that defendant was part of a rotation of plumbers who made only emergency repairs at the hospital, and that plaintiff’s employer employed in-house plumbers. Taitt v Riehm Plumbing Corp., 2022 NY Slip Op 06775, First Dept 11-29-22

Practice Point: Here the leaking pipe which caused plaintiff’s slip and fall could not be connected to repairs made by defendant plumbing company two months before. The res ipsa loquitiur doctrine did not apply because defendant did not have exclusive control over the water pipes.

 

You might also like
IN ORDER TO BE ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT FINDING DEFENDANT LIABLE IN AN ACCIDENT CASE, PLAINTIFF MUST DEMONSTRATE FREEDOM FROM COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE.
DEFENDANT WAS ENTITLED TO A DOWNWARD DEPARTURE FROM LEVEL TWO TO LEVEL ONE IN THIS CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CASE (FIRST DEPT).
A Counteroffer Extinguishes the Initial Offer Which Cannot Be Unilaterally Revived by Subsequent Acceptance
POLICE OFFICER’S EXPECTATION THAT DEFENDANT WOULD BE ARRESTED DID NOT HAVE ANY BEARING ON WHETHER DEFENDANT WAS IN CUSTODY, MOTION TO SUPPRESS STATEMENT PROPERLY DENIED (FIRST DEPT).
DENIAL OF A REPORTER’S MOTION TO QUASH A SUBPOENA FOR EVIDENCE OF HER JAILHOUSE INTERVIEW OF THE DEFENDANT IN A CRIMINAL PROCEEDING IS NOT APPEALABLE (CT APP).
RECORDS OF PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE CIVILIAN COMPLAINT REVIEW BOARD ARE POLICE OFFICER PERSONNEL RECORDS WHICH ARE EXEMPT FROM A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW REQUEST.
QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER DEFENDANT EXERCISED SUFFICIENT CONTROL OVER THE WORK TO BE LIABLE UNDER LABOR LAW 200 AS AN AGENT OF THE OWNER AND GENERAL CONTRACTOR.
Whether the “Assault and Battery” Exclusion from Coverage Pertained to an Arson Is a Question of Fact Which Depends Upon the Motives of the Arsonist

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

THE COURT DID NOT CONDUCT ANY INQUIRY TO DETERMINE WHETHER A THREE-YEAR-OLD... RESPONDENT STATE COLLEGE WITHHELD EXCULPATORY EVIDENCE IN THIS COLLEGE MISCONDUCT...