This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

Ps were tenants of a fifth-floor apartment in an eleven-story apartment building owned by defendant Plaza (D) and managed by Haas (D). On the night of December 16, 1964, Ps retired. The next morning, Louis (P) awoke, got out of bed, and was shaving in the bathroom with the door closed. When Esther (P) awoke, she felt an intense heat and found the bedroom full of steam. She attempted to get out of bed, and when her feet touched the floor, it was so filled with hot water and slime that she fell on her buttocks. She suffered immediate pain and severe injuries, and the furnishings in the apartment were generally ruined. Plaza (P) had a hot-water heating system. Boilers in the basement heated the water that circulated through pipes into and out of the various apartments with the assistance of pumps, which pulled the water through the system and discharged it back into the boiler for reheating. The radiator in Ps' bedroom ran along the side of the room under the windows and through a pipe in the radiator that looped through a shut-off valve and two 90-degree ell fittings. The hot water in the apartment had escaped through a ruptured portion of one of the fittings. The radiator and the pipes connected to it were hidden by a metal cover. There was a 'knob' which was attached to the control valve for the purpose of regulating the extent of water flow through the radiator, which, in turn, allowed for control of the room temperature. When the building was originally constructed, each radiator had a butterfly valve. Such a valve had only a 90-degree opening and permitted only a quarter turn from off to fully on. After many complaints from tenants, including plaintiffs, that it was not possible to modulate the heat with such a limited turn, new valves were installed that allowed for a 360-degree turn. Ps sued for damages using the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur. Ps got the verdict for $25,000, and Ds appealed. Ds claim that Ps did not prove that the radiator involved was under the exclusive management and control of Ds.

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