The Appellate Division, First Department in Ezzard v. One E. River Place Realty Co, LLC, et al, 8 N.Y.S.3d. 195 (App. Div. First Dept., 2015), recently ruled that Res Ipsa Loquitur does apply to an elevator company if they have a full service contract. This case involved the misleveling of an elevator, which led to plaintiff tripping. This affirms prior rulings and provides victims of elevator accidents a potent legal ruling in seeking compensation.
Res Ipsa Loquitur is a Latin terms that means: “the thing speaks for itself”.A Res Ipsa ruling allows the fact finder (the jury) to infer negligence based upon the occurrence of an event where a plaintiff offers evidence of (1) the occurrence is not one which ordinarily occurs in the absence of negligence; (2) it is caused by an instrumentality or agency within defendant’s exclusive control (the contract) and (3) it was not due to any contribution on the plaintiff’s part. James v. Wormuth, 21 N.Y.3d. 540, 547-548 (Ct of Appeals, 2013).
In short, when the doctrine of Res Ipsa is applicable notice of a defect is inferred and the plaintiff need not offer evidence of notice. The Court in Ezzard further noted, that elevators malfunctions do not occur in the absence of negligence thus giving rise to the application of Res Ipsa Loquitur. If you or a loved one has been injured in an elevator accident call the Law Office of Daniel Levy, LLP., our attorneys have tremendous experience in handling these type of cases.