Ceiling Light Falls on Plaintiff, not Lessor’s Responsibility

Case: General Personal Injury – Ceiling fixture collapse

Counsel: Salvatore DeSantis and Alexander Janoso

Result: Complaint Dismissed Against Out of Possession Landlord

MDS won summary judgment on behalf of a commercial landowner in Brooklyn. The plaintiff alleged that she was injured at her place of employment, a non-profit that provides healthcare services, when a light fixture fell on her from the ceiling when she was in the restroom. The plaintiff’s employer leased the premises from the prior owner of the building and the lease was subsequently assigned to our client. The assigned lease reflected that through the term of the lease the tenant is responsible for taking good care of the demised premises, “including the bathrooms and lavatory facilities” and “the fixtures and appurtenances therein and at Tenant’s sole cost and expense promptly make all repairs there to […].” Discovery revealed that, unbeknownst to our client, the plaintiff’s employer had hired a third-party to replace two lights in the woman’s bathroom, including the fixture that fell on the plaintiff. MSD submitted a motion for summary judgement dismissing the Complaint on behalf of our client as our client was an out of possession landlord and not liable for the transitory condition that allegedly caused the accident. After oral argument the Court granted our client’s motion for summary judgment, dismissing the action against our client, finding that they were not responsible for the maintenance of non-structural defects in the lessee’s premises and that the light fixture that fell and injured the plaintiff was not the result of a structural defect.