(Download) "Willie Mae Francis v. Laddie Pic" by Supreme Court of North Dakota ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Willie Mae Francis v. Laddie Pic
- Author : Supreme Court of North Dakota
- Release Date : January 27, 1975
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 58 KB
Description
SAND, Judge. Willie Mae Francis, plaintiff/appellant, a social guest of the lessee, brought this action against defendant/appellee Pic,
landlord, for personal injuries sustained from a fall on the inside stairway of a one-family home. Pic inspected the house
three or four times prior to purchasing it, and walked up and down the stairway leading from the first to the second floor
during these inspections. Pic again, after the purchase, made an inspection and "skipped" over the stairway several times
going up and down and noticed the steps were worn and showing wear. The inspections took place during the day and at night.
Pic made a determination that the house was in a livable condition and that it was reasonably safe. Pic purchased the home
on approximately October 1, 1971, and about five or six days later rented it to the lessee. The fall occurred on November
26, 1971, at about 5:15 a.m. Plaintiff, Francis, a social guest, was staying overnight with her stepdaughter and son-in-law
(lessee). Plaintiff and her husband used the upstairs bedroom. In the morning, while in the process of descending the stairway
barefooted, she fell. Plaintiff felt her foot give way under her and had a sensation of the steps going out from under her.
She fell on step No. 5 which showed a cracked nosing, part of which was an old break and part of which was new. The treads
varied from eight to nine and one-half inches in depth. The nosing on step 2 just below the second floor level was missing,
and on step 8 it was partially missing. On step 1 the nosing varied from one-eighth to three-eighths inch. The slope of the
stairway was steep and about four or five degrees steeper than the maximum steepness of a standard residential stairway. The
width of the stairway was three inches less than a standard minimum. The stairway opening on the second floor level leading
downstairs consisted merely of a floor opening without any door, walls or railings. There were no mats on the stairway and
the surface of the stairway was painted with enamel, not fresh but shiny and slick. The artificial lighting of the stairway
consisted of a ceiling light on the second floor not in direct line with the stairway. It illuminated the upper treads but
the light was cut off by the stairwell, and about half way down the stair there was no illumination, except for reflection
and indirect lighting. The plaintiff social guest was not acquainted with the stairway except for going upstairs and descending
for the first time.
 "Willie Mae Francis v. Laddie Pic" by Supreme Court of North Dakota ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free){kind=link}