ARE THESE THE PERILS OF KARAOKE?
While at a karaoke bar, Julia K. was singing and “moving her body” while standing on top of a couch (or banquette), when that furniture suddenly shifted forward, causing her to fall backwards and to crash through the establishment’s floor-to-ceiling storefront windows.
After Julia filed a personal-injury case against the establishment and the building’s owner, the defendants moved to dismiss her case (by way of a motion for summary judgment). And when the New York County Supreme Court denied those applications, the parties appealed to the Appellate Division, First Department, which thought there were “issues of fact” as to whether the business “had notice of the window's dangerous condition, and whether [the tenant] maintained the premises in a reasonably safe condition.” Among other things, it was noted that the bar had been advised by a glazier to use “tempered glass,” but inexplicably failed to follow that recommendation.
Since many patrons stood on the furniture over the years, the AD1 thought that further examination was warranted as to whether “defendants were negligent in failing to use tempered glass in the window to prevent a foreseeable injury.”
But because 219 Ave. A. NYC LLC was an out-of-possession landlord, who was under no obligation to repair or maintain the premises, the AD1 concluded that its request to be let out of the case should have been granted. And it modified the underlying order accordingly.
Did the fat lady sing there?
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DECISION