Klein v. Melrose Savings Bank

36 Mass. App. Dec. 217
CourtMassachusetts District Court, Appellate Division
DecidedFebruary 23, 1967
Docket#6328; No. 3348
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 36 Mass. App. Dec. 217 (Klein v. Melrose Savings Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts District Court, Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Klein v. Melrose Savings Bank, 36 Mass. App. Dec. 217 (Mass. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

Connolly, J.

In this case, the plaintiff seeks to recover for personal injuries she alleges she received as the result of a fall on the premises of the defendant. Her declaration contains three counts, all in tort.

Count 1 alleges that the defendant was in control of the building; that the plaintiff was an invitee; that the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty to keep the premises in a safe and proper condition; that the defendant failed in its duty and the plaintiff was caused to fall on snow and ice which had been permitted to accumulate on the floor and which was known or should have been known by the defendant, causing injury and damage to the plaintiff. Count 2 in substance alleges that the plaintiff was an invitee of the defendant and was caused to fall by the carelessness and negligence of the defendant. Count 3 contains substantially the same allegation as Count 1, but attributes the fall of the plaintiff to a defective condition of the premises rather than to snow and ice.

[220]*220The answer is general denial, contributory negligence and assumption of the risk, statute of limitations and denial of notice as required by law.

At the trial, there was evidence tending to show the following:

The plaintiff was 49, a housewife, and on Janaury 13, 1964, in very snowy weather, went to the defendant’s bank to cash a check and make out some registered checks; that she arrived around 1:54 p.m.; the tile floor was very wet when she entered; that she went to a table ten feet away from the front door and then to a teller’s window about fifteen feet away; that when she was going out she slipped near the front door and saw a piece of ice about two inches thick on the floor. A notice to the defendant was introduced by the plaintiff and read as follows:

“January 23, 1964 - You are hereby notified that Mrs. Gertrude Klein of 22 Holbrook Court, Melrose, Massachusetts was seriously injured on January 13, 1964 at about 1:45 p.m. in your bank offices at 476 Main Street, Melrose, Massachusetts as a result of slipping and falling to the floor on said premises due to an accumulation of snow and ice which caused her to fall. Gertrude Klein by Melvin J. Levine, her attorney, hereunto duly authorized.”

One Billings, a witness called by the plaintiff, testified that he was a mortgage officer of the [221]*221bank on January 13, 1964 which was a bad day; that his desk was six feet from the front door; that he did not see Mrs. Klein fall, but saw her getting up; that the floor was like the court-room floor and was slippery when wet but that the maintenance man always put mats down and mopped the floor when he could; that where the plaintiff was on the floor was next to one of the rubber mats, pictures of which were introduced as exhibits; that he was busy with a customer; that he was in and out of the bank; that he saw some water from shoes on the floor that day; that he didn’t see the plaintiff come in to the bank that day.

The defendant offered in evidence certain answers of the plaintiff to its interrogatories. The interrogatories and answers are, as follows:

Interrogatory 19: If you claim that any alleged defective condition of the premises referred to in your declaration caused your alleged injury, state as accurately as possible how long the alleged defective condition had existed prior to the accident.
Answer to 19: I don’t know.
Interrogatory 20: Please state as accurately as possible when you first observed the alleged defective condition of the premises referred to in your declaration.
Answer to 20: On January 13, 1964
Interrogatory 2: Please state when and [222]*222specifically where on the defendant’s premises the alleged accident occurred, stating full details as to the1 time, place and surroundings.
Answer to 2: Melrose Savings Bank - January 13,1964 - 1:45 P.M. between teller’s window and front door.

The defendant duly filed the following requests for rulings:

1..The evidence does not warrant a finding that the defendant, its agents or servants were negligent.

a. As to Count 1, b. As to Count 2, c. As to count 3.

2. The evidence does not warrant a finding other than that the negligence of the plaintiff contributed in whole or in part to cause the alleged injuries and damage.

a. As to Count 1, b. As to Count 2, c. As to count 3.

3. The evidence does not warrant a finding that any negligence of the defendant proximately caused the alleged injuries and damage.

a. As to Count 1, b. As to Count 2, c. As to count 3.

4. As a matter of law, the defendant breached no legal duty owed by it to the plaintiff.

a. As to Count 1, b. As to Count 2, c. As to count 3.

5. There is no liability for a condition that’s only a natural result of the manner in which a business is openly and visibly being carried on.

[223]*223a. As to Count 1, b. As to Count 2, c. As to count 3.

6. The plaintiff has the burden of proving that the defendant had a reasonable time to discover and remedy any defect.

a. As to Count 1, b. As to Count 2, c. As to count 3.

7. The defendant had no duty to warn of obvious defects.

a. As to Count 1, b. As to Count 2, c. As to count 3.

8. The defendant’s duty was only to exercise reasonable care to keep in a safe condition that portion of [its] premises to which the plaintiff was invited or to warn her against dangers not known to her or obvious to an intelligent person, which were either known or ought to have been known.

a. As to Count 1, b. As to Count 2, c. As to count 3.

9. The plaintiff has not as a matter of law sustained the burden of proving all the elements of her case required to be proved by law.

a. As to Count 1, b. As to Count 2, c. As to count 3.

10. As a matter of law, there must be a finding for the defendant.

a. As to Count 1, b. As to Count 2, c. As to coupt 3.

11. Count 1 does not state a cause of action.

12.. Count 2 does not state a cause of action.

13.. Count 3 does not state a couse of action.

[224]*224Requests 5, 6, 7 and 8 were allowed and the remaining requests were disallowed. The judge found:

“I find as a fact upon all of the evidence that the plaintiff was a business invitee of the defendant and while on the defendant’s premises and while in the exercise of due care was caused to fall and sustain injuries as a result of the failure of the defendant to maintain its premises in a safe condition, which the defendant knew or should have known existed, and that the negligence of the defendant was the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries.”

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Bluebook (online)
36 Mass. App. Dec. 217, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/klein-v-melrose-savings-bank-massdistctapp-1967.