Litz v. Hutzler Brothers Co.

On September 3, 1970 Jennie V. Murray, then aged 85 years, in the company of her niece, Mildred Litz, visited downtown Baltimore. In due course they went to Hutzler’s Downtown Department Store.

Hutzler’s downtown store consists of what once was two separate buildings on opposite sides of Clay Street (between Howard and Eutaw Streets). Eventually they were connected in such a way as to straddle Clay Street, a public highway of the City of Baltimore, at the basement and ground floor levels. All other levels of the buildings up to the top level of the shorter became in effect a single entity up…