Retrial On Alleged Dangerous Exterior Staircase - Jury Awarded Plaintiff $350,000
On January 6, 2022, an appellate court overruled a Supreme Court, Bronx County Judge and ordered a retrial of a personal injury action brought by a plaintiff who fell down an exterior staircase. The trial court submitted the case to the jury on a liability theory exclusively premised on the lack of a handrail. The jury found in favor of the plaintiff and awarded her $350,000. The appellate court found this was error because "the plaintiff did not argue that the steps were defective and she did not establish that a statute required the staircase to have a handrail." The defendant's appeal was only partially victorious.
The appellate court then denied that part of the defendant's appeal which argued that the trial court should have granted their motion for a directed verdict because plaintiff had not proven negligence based on a missing handrail. It was explained that a retrial solely on liability was appropriate since the jury could have found negligence based on testimony that the staircase was dark and there was garbage on the steps. Thompson v Rodney, 2022 WL 51912
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