Townley v. Williams

This is a case in which the almost obvious appears to have been overlooked. But first the context.

The critical facts in this case are not in dispute. From the report3 and the trial court's findings, we know the following:

On November4,1985,respondingto acomplaintaboutawaterleak, an employee of the Boston Water and Sewer Commission (“Commission”) found one of its water mains wasleaking onto WashingtonStreetnearwhereitintersectsDimmockStreet in the Roxbury section of Boston. The Commission was responsiblefor maintaining the leaking water main but it failed to make repairs. For the following…