[Download] "Hansen v. Brown" by New Jersey Supreme Court * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free

eBook details

Title: Hansen v. Brown
Author : New Jersey Supreme Court
Release Date : January 22, 1939
Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
Pages : * pages
Size : 48 KB

Description

The factual situation, as the jury were entitled to find it on the evidence, was substantially as follows: the house was an old one, dating from about 1800. The front door gave into a hall about six feet wide, with a staircase leading to the upper floor. On each side of the hall was a door opening into a side room; to the right, on the level of the hall; to the left, one step down, as already described. Both rooms were used for restaurant purposes, with the usual tables and chairs. The rooms on the upper floor were similarly used. There was usually a "hostess" stationed in the hall, where there was a desk, but when plaintiff entered the hall was vacant, the hostess having her lunch or taking a "rest hour." The plaintiff was accompanied by her son, his wife, and their two children. On entering the hall, they turned to the room on the right, a waitress in that room asked how many, and being told five, directed them to the left-hand room, where a waitress said "room for five here," or some such remark. Neither waitress nor anyone mentioned the step down, the plaintiff, leading the party, did not see it, failed to notice any difference in floor level, stepped into the room expecting a floor on the level of the hall, found none, and fell as a result. There was no placard or other appliance to call attention to the step; neither waitress mentioned it; plaintiff did not see it and was not looking for it; there was testimony that the light in the hall was dim (it was three-thirty P.M. on November 29th); plaintiff assumed a continuity of floor level; and there being none, she fell.