McLaughlin v. Armfield
New York Supreme Court
Appeal from circuit court, Kings county. Action by Catherine McLaughlin against William W. Armfield. Plaintiff and others were employed in a factory occupying the upper stories of a building owned by defendant, situated in the city of Brooklyn, and which was not provided with fire-escapes. A fire having broken out on a lower floor, plaintiff and many others were compelled to leap from the windows of the third story in order to escape.
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Appeal from circuit court, Kings county. Action by Catherine McLaughlin against William W. Armfield. Plaintiff and others were employed in a factory occupying the upper stories of a building owned by defendant, situated in the city of Brooklyn, and which was not provided with fire-escapes. A fire having broken out on a lower floor, plaintiff and many others were compelled to leap from the windows of the third story in order to escape. Plaintiff fell to the roof of an adjoining building, and was severely injured. Most of the others on the same floor escaped through another window in the same…
1Opinion of the CourtPratt, J.
The appellant, for five years before the accident, had owned and -collected rent from the defective building. If, under those circumstances, he can avoid responsibility by alleging he had no personal knowledge that the fire-escapes were not erected, as required by law, the statute would be a snare, .and not a safeguard. The appellant argues that as the statute does not, in •express terms, declare that fire-escapes shall be erected by the owner, the duty cannot be placed upon him by a judicial construction of the law. The law enacts that any building occupied, or built to be occupied, as a…
2Cited by12 opinions
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- Tralle v. Hartman Furniture & Carpet Co.Nebraska Supreme Court · 1928
- Arnold v. . National Starch Co.New York Court of Appeals · 1909
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