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
PLAINTIFF FELL FROM AN UNSECURED LADDER WHEN STRUCK BY FALLING OBJECTS; PLAINTIFF WAS ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON THE LABOR LAW 240(1) CAUSE OF ACTION (FIRST DEPT).
DEFENDANT’S EXPERT’S AFFIDAVIT ITSELF RAISED QUESTIONS OF FACT AND WAS OTHERWISE DEFICIENT IN THIS LABOR LAW 240(1) LADDER FALL CASE; DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FIRST DEPT). ​
OVERRULING PRECEDENT, THE FAILURE TO TIMELY FILE A CERTIFICATE OF MERIT IN A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION IS NOT A GROUND FOR DISMISSAL OF THE ACTION; IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO DEMONSTRATE THE ACTION HAS MERIT OR AN EXCUSE FOR THE FAILURE TO FILE IN SEEKING AN EXTENSION TO FILE THE CERTIFICATE (FIRST DEPT).
CONDITION OF PAROLE THAT PETITIONER NEVER ENTER QUEENS COUNTY WITH NO PROVISION FOR OBTAINING PERMISSION TO TRAVEL THERE VIOLATED PETITIONER’S RIGHT TO TRAVEL AND RIGHT TO ASSOCIATE (FIRST DEPT).
DEFENSE COUNSEL LEFT A PROFFER SESSION MIDWAY THROUGH THE PROCEEDINGS; DURING THE PROFFER SESSION DEFENDANT MADE AN INCRIMINATORY STATEMENT WHICH WAS USED TO IMPEACH HIS CREDIBILITY AT TRIAL; DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO VACATE HIS CONVICTION ON INEFFECTIVE-ASSISTANCE GROUNDS SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FIRST DEPT).
BAILEE CANNOT, PURSUANT TO THE UCC, CONTRACT AWAY LIABILITY FOR LACK OF CARE IN STORING GOODS, PURPORTED WAIVER OF SUBROGATION UNENFORCEABLE.
THE ALLEGATIONS IN THE COMPLAINT SUPPORTED “PIERCING THE CORPORATE VEIL;” PLAINTIFF ALLEGED FUNDS OWED TO HER WERE DIVERTED TO RENDER THE CORPORATION JUDGMENT PROOF (FIRST DEPT).
POSSESSION OF A GRAVITY KNIFE CHARGE DISMISSED EVEN THOUGH THE STATUTE DECRIMINALIZING SUCH POSSESSION IS NOT TO BE APPLIED RETROACTIVELY (FIRST DEPT).

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...