Tauber v. Home Owners' Loan Corp.

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, defendant appeals from a judgment in favor of the plaintiff, entered upon the verdict of a jury. The plaintiff fell on a cellar stairway in the basement of a two-family house, a part of which she occupied as a tenant. She alleged that the fall was caused by inadequate lighting, together with a defective condition of the steps and a protruding nail, and that these conditions were the concurring proximate causes. The court charged the jury that as a matter of law the uncontradicted evidence established a “ common stairway.” This charge…