Case Name: ROTH v. G. A. FELD CO.
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Term
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1908-05-15
Citations: 110 N.Y.S. 427
Docket Number: 
Parties: ROTH v. G. A. FELD CO.
Judges: 
Reporter: West's New York Supplement
Volume: 110
Pages: 427–428

Head Matter:
ROTH v. G. A. FELD CO.
(Supreme Court, Appellate Term.
May 15, 1908.)
Negligence—Omissions Constituting Negligence—Failure to Keep Premises in Repair.
Where a plumber- went to defendant’s establishment to buy a piece of pipe, and upon the invitation of one in authority went to the top of the ■ building to get it, and in coming down a dark flight of stairs was injured, by tripping over a large spike projecting from a landing, defendant was liable, since the invitation justified plaintiff in assuming that defendant had observed its duty to keep the stairs in a reasonably safe condition.
[Ed. Note.—For cases in point, see Cent. Dig. vol. 37, Negligence, § 59.]
Appeal from Municipal Court, Borough of Manhattan, Twelfth District.
Action by Fred Roth against the G. A. Feld Company. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals.
Affirmed.
Argued before GIEDERSLEEVE, P. J., and GIEGERICH and GREENBAUM, JJ.
Winter & Winter, for appellant.
Frank H. Smiley, for respondent.

Opinion:
GIEDERSLEEVE, P. J.
I agree to an affirmance of the judgment herein. The invitation from defendant to the plaintiff to use the stairs in question justified the plaintiff in assuming that they were not dangerous, since it was the duty of the defendant to maintain them in a reasonably safe condition. The proof introduced by plaintiff established a prima facie case of negligence on the part of the defendant, and in the absence of any explanation by the defendant the plaintiff was entitled to judgment. Schnizer v. Phillips, 108 App. Div. 17, 95 N. Y. Supp. 478.
The judgment should be affirmed, with costs.
GREENBAUM, J., concurs.