Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1991

Rittwager v. Lawrence

Rittwager v. Lawrence
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York · Decided January 31, 1991
169 A.D.2d 685; 565 N.Y.S.2d 66; 1991 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 800
Rittwager v. Lawrence

Opinion of the Court

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Edward Lehner, J.), entered June 18, 1990, which denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment, unanimously affirmed, with costs.

*686Plaintiff was allegedly injured when he fell backwards off a loading dock, while carrying a heavy, cumbersome object. The defendants are the owners of the premises. Defendants contend that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law, as plaintiff’s fall was proximately caused not by any defect or failure to warn, but instead, as plaintiff himself stated, by a "push” from the object he was carrying, which propelled plaintiff off the loading dock. To the contrary, we find that the affidavit of plaintiff’s expert raises questions of fact as to whether a defect in the premises caused or contributed to plaintiffs injuries. Concur—Milonas, J. P., Wallach, Asch, Kassal and Smith, JJ.

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