Neighboring tenant who falls into unguarded doorway is a trespasser and cannot press injury claim
This week the Court of Appeals dismissed its seventh straight premises liability "slip and fall" claim. In this case, Anbari v. Unions Square Development, the plaintiff Christopher Anbari was showing a prospective tenant a condominium. He opened a door which he believed led to the exercise room, only to fall six feet to the concrete floor: the door actually served Union Square's condominium and was being renovated. An employee of the owner perfoming the construction had failed to lock or barricade the entrance.
Anbari argued that Union Square owed him a duty to bar the entrance or warn of its danger. He also argued that coming from a common area, he was not a trespasser, but rather a "licensee" (one who is not invited but whose presence is tolerated). The Court disagreed and dismissed his injury claim, holding that the owner owed him no duty.