Muckler v. Buchl

150 N.W.2d 689 (1967)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P's decedent, a 55-year-old woman, fell down a flight of stairs extending from the landing between the first and second floors down to the first floor of apartment house in which she had been a tenant for 7 years. She broke her hip in the fall and was taken to a hospital where she died less than 4 months later. P sued D for death by wrongful act. P claimed the accident was caused by D's negligence in having the stairs too dimly lit for safety contrary to a relevant ordinance and to his common-law duty. Just before she fell, decedent was walking down the stairs directly behind a departing guest who had been visiting her. Her testimony indicated that the stairway was poorly lit. The light measured one-tenth of a foot-candle or less -- significantly below the two foot-candles required by an ordinance of the city of Minneapolis. Except for the inadequacy of the lighting, the evidence shows that there was no defect in the stairway to which the fall could be attributed. A handrail was in place. There was no evidence indicating that decedent had fallen while descending the steps of the apartment building on any prior occasion during the 7 years she lived there as a tenant. P got the judgment, and D appealed.