Brenda and John Stachowski v. Estate of Daniel Radman

Vaidik, Chief Judge.

[1] In this case we address the difference between (1) a negligence-per-se claim, in which a plaintiff argues that the defendant's violation of a statute or ordinance suffices to prove breach of an existing common-law duty of reasonable care, and (2) a private-right-of-action claim, in which a plaintiff asserts that a statute or ordinance, itself, created an enforceable duty.

[2] Brenda and John Stachowski have sued the Estate of Daniel Radman for negligence, claiming that Brenda fell *544 through an allegedly rotten handrail on the deck of a home in South Bend that the…