LANDLORD AND TENANT - ASSUMPTION OF RISK OF DEFECTIVE STAIRWAY IN LANDLORD'S CONTROL BY EMPLOYEE OF TENANT

Plaintiff, employee of a tenant in defendant's building, fell and suffered injuries while using a stairway designed for the use of the tenants and their employees. The stairway was in the control of the landlord, and had long been in a defective condition. It was the only means of ingress and egress. In the plaintiff's action against the landlord the trial court granted a non-suit on the ground that plaintiff had voluntarily assumed the risk of the defective stairway by her use thereof.

Plaintiff appealed. Held, the question whether the plaintiff had voluntarily assumed the risk is a question for the jury. Di Geso v. Franklin Washington Trust Co., (N. J. L. 1939) 4 A. (2d) 9·