Nelson v. Sponberg

The plaintiff, a doctor, owns and maintains his offices in a building in Tacoma consisting of a main floor and basement. At the rear of this building is an outside stairway, leading to the basement. There is another stairway at the front of the building, leading to the doctors’ offices. The rear stairway is forty-eight inches in width, of concrete construction, with walls on either side. In January, 1953, the plaintiff, acting through his agent, the caretaker, engaged the defendant Einer Sponberg, a welder (hereafter referred to as the defendant), to install an iron-pipe handrail down the…