I was injured in my apartment building when I fell down steps while walking to the first floor. I had tripped near the top of the steps, but there were handrails on only one side. Since I fell on the side of the stairs where there was no handrail, I couldn’t break my fall. I tumbled to the bottom of the staircase. Can I sue my landlord?
Yes. You will be able to make a claim against your landlord. In an earlier blog I made reference to the Multiple Dwelling Law. In buildings with three or more units the Multiple Dwelling Law applies. Thus, the safety provisions provided in that law will apply to your building.
In your case you made reference to stairs going from your apartment to the first floor. You indicated that the stairs leading to the first floor had a handrail on only one side. Unfortunately for you, you tripped on the side where there was no handrail. The Multiple Dwelling Law covers this type of situation.
According to Multiple Dwelling Law § 52, each staircase wider than 3’8″ shall be provided with handrail on each side. Since you mentioned in the description of the accident that you were on the side of the stairs where there was no handrail, I am assuming that the stairs were wider than 3’8″. Handrails must also be placed between 2’6” and 2’8″ high. Again, based on your description, the landlord did not have handrails on both sides of the staircase. (If the handrails were defective instead of missing, this section of the Multiple Dwelling Law would still apply.) Therefore the landlord violated the safety provisions of the Multiple Dwelling Law.
Negligence per se
According to multiple authorities, when the landlord fails to follow specific safety guidelines in the Multiple Dwelling Law, the landlord is negligent, per se. Martinez v Melendez, 32 AD3d 999 (2006). Negligence, per se, means that as long as the plaintiff shows that the violation of the statute was the competent producing cause of the accident, the defendant is negligent. Thus, the defendant is liable for any damages you sustained in your accident because there was a missing handrail to prevent your fall.
By James Santner, Esq.
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