Barretta v. Otis Elevator Co.

This case, in which an escalator came to a sudden stop causing a passenger to fall and sustain injuries, presents a classic example of the type of case to which the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur (“the thing speaks for itself’) has commonly been applied. Accidents involving elevators and escalators have consistently been identified as appropriate for application of the doctrine, because they are accidents for which direct evidence of negligence is frequently unavailable, but that, based upon common experience, would not ordinarily occur in the absence of negligence. See Barwick v. United…