Morris v. Granato

• Decision Date: 05 December 1946
• Citation: Morris v. Granato, 133 Conn. 295, 50 A.2d 416 (Conn. 1946)
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: MORRIS v. GRANATO et al.

133 Conn. 295

50 A.2d 416

MORRIS

v.GRANATO et al.

Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut.

Dec. 5, 1946.

Appeal from Superior Court, Hartford County; Wynne, Judge.

Action by Nettie B. Morris against Frank Granato and others for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by defendants' negligence in the care of their restaurant. Verdict and judgment for plaintiff after trial to a jury, and defendants appeal.

No error.

M. J. Blumenfeld, of Hartford, for appellants (defendants).

Samuel Steinberg, of Hartford, for appellee (plaintiff).

Before MALTBIE, C. J., and BROWN, JENNINGS, ELLS, and DICKENSON, JJ.

DICKENSON, Judge.

This is an action to recover damages for personal injuries claimed to have been caused the plaintiff as an invitee of the defendants by their negligence in the care of their restaurant. It was tried to the jury and a verdict was rendered for the plaintiff. The sole ground of appeal is the denial of a motion to set aside the verdict.

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, the jury might reasonably have found the facts as follows: The defendants conduct a restaurant on Main Street, Hartford, with a licene to sell beer. Upon entering the restaurant, there is a bar to the right and a double line of booths to the left extending nearly the depth of the room. Passage to the rear of the room may be had through an aisle between the booths or in the space between the bar and the booths. In the wall which extends along back of the bar are three doors. The first of these is behind the bar and leads to the cellar. The second is the door to the men's toilet and is about four feet from the cellar door and opposite the rear end of the bar. The third door is to the women's toilet and is about four feet from the door to the men's toilet. There is a screen between the door to the men's room and that to the women's room extending out a few feet from the wall and at right angles to it. The partition is nearer the women's room and between it and the men's room is a pinball machine extending into the restaurant to a point about opposite the rear end of the bar. Access to the men's room and to the cellar door is had by passing between the end of the bar and the pinball machine. Access to the women's room is had by passing to the left of the pinball machine and the screen. At the time of the plaintiff's fall, there was no sign on the door to the men's room or on the cellar door. Both of these doors opened in. The door to the women's room opened out, and a sign, which projected at right angles from the left casing at the height of the top of the door, bore the word ‘Ladies.’ A partition part way to the ceiling separates the main room of the restaurant from the kitchen.

The plaintiff and a man companion entered the restaurant about 11 p. m. on October 21, 1944, and seated themselves in one of the booths facing in the discretion of the entrance door. They ordered sandwiches, and beer for the man. While the plaintiff was eating, her companion went to the men's toilet. When he returned, the plaintiff in turn started to go to a toilet. She proceeded down the aisle to the rear of the line of booths, passed between these and the kitchen partition, crossed to the passage between the end of the bar and the pinball machine and entered the men's toilet. In her course, the women's toilet was to her left. The sign ‘Ladies' was hidden at first from her view by the partition wall separating the kitchen from the main room, and as she got beyond this the ‘Ladies' sign was at an angle to her line of vision. She did not see this sign or the door to the women's room and entered the men's room. She had been in the restaurant but once before and had not gone to a toilet on that occasion. Her companion's attention was called to the fact that she had entered the men's toilet. He went to the door, called to her that she was in the wrong room, and returned to his seat. She came out quite embarrassed and turned to her left. She opened the door leading to the cellar and stepped in, falling down the stairs to the cellar floor. There was no...