Mathews v. Lord & Taylor, Inc.

This is an action in tort to recover for personal injuries sustained by the plaintiff in a fall upon the defendant’s business premises. The sole question for review is the propriety of the trial court’s allowance of the defendant’s Dist./Mun. Ct. R. Civ. P., Rule 41(b)(2) motion for dismissal submitted at the conclusion of the plaintiffs evidence.

The report evidence may be summarized as follows: On January 5, 1981, the plaintiff went to a department store in the Burlington Mall, Burlington, Massachusetts, to have buttons re-sewn on a coat originally purchased in the store. The store is owned…