Skaria v. State, 62359
| Decision Date | 30 April 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 62359,62359 |
| Citation | 110 Misc.2d 711,442 N.Y.S.2d 838 |
| Parties | Rachel SKARIA and Skaria Samuel, her husband, Claimants, v. The STATE of New York, Defendant. Claim |
| Court | New York Court of Claims |
In this timely filed Claim, the Claimant, Rachel Skaria, seeks to recover damages for personal injury sustained by her on April 18, 1978. These injuries resulted from the negligent maintenance of 440 Lenox Road, Brooklyn, New York. Her husband, Skaria Samuel, seeks damages for the loss of his wife's services and for medical expenses incurred by him on her behalf.
On April 18, 1978, and prior thereto, the Claimant, Rachel Skaria, was employed as a registered nurse in the Downstate Medical Center. She lived across the street at 440 Lenox Road in a building used by the Center to house its employees and their families. The building was maintained by the State of New York and contained 108 residential units. Above the ground floor the six-story building is divided into east and west sections, each containing its own self-service elevator and stairwell.
Entrance to the main floor is gained through two sets of front doors. The exterior door, which is unlocked, leads into a vestibule and another door. The interior door was kept locked and was equipped with a self-closing device. The use of the elevators was also controlled for security purposes. Tenants, including the Claimants, were supplied with a Memorandum from the building management informing them that the elevators were restricted from going to the basement nightly at 8:00 p. m. (Claimants' Exhibit "4")
Each evening at 8:00 p. m. the Assistant Superintendent of the building locked the elevators with a key which prevented them from going to the basement. The basement of the building contained a laundry and several other rooms, including a locker room with approximately 60 lockers. The interior stairwells were open and except for the basement, the building did not contain any recessed areas. The Claimants lived on the fifth floor in the west section of the building.
On the night of the incident, Rachel Skaria left the hospital at approximately 11:55 p. m., walked across the street and opened the front door of the building with her key. She entered the elevator and pressed the fifth floor button. However, when the elevator reached the second floor it stopped and an unknown man entered. She tried to leave the elevator, however, he produced a knife and demanded money. After the elevator reached the fifth floor, he refused to let her out and instead pushed the basement elevator button. The elevator did not stop at the ground floor, but proceeded to the basement. When it reached the basement Mrs. Skaria's assailant then took her to the locker room where he raped her. Mrs. Skaria was slashed on the fingers of her right hand as she attempted to resist the rape.
Mrs. Skaria testified that approximately one month prior to the incident she had complained to the building management that the interior door could be opened without a key. She also testified that approximately two weeks before the incident she spoke to Mr. Perez, the building superintendent, and told him that the door was not closing properly. Mr. Perez told her that he would have it repaired. Kodumthara Thomas, a friend of the Claimants and another tenant in the building, testified that prior to the incident the interior door could have been opened without a key, if it were pushed hard enough. Frank Baldwin, the Assistant Superintendent of the building, admitted that prior to April 17, 1978, the night of the incident, the front door could have been pushed and opened without a key, however, he did not know for how long a period the condition had existed. Mr. Baldwin also testified that it was his duty to lock the elevators every evening at 8:00 p. m. He stated that on the night of the incident, he had locked the elevator.
George Peters, the State employee in charge of operating the building, admitted that there had been problems with the hinges of the interior door, which caused the door to sag, preventing it from closing properly. He also admitted that the door was repaired on at least five occasions during the six months preceding the attack. Work orders revealed that on October 13, 1977, work was done on the door check. Again, on February 2, 1978, the front door check was again repaired. Finally, on April 18, 1978, the date of the incident, a work order was put in to repair the front door lock, that work was completed on the following day.
In addition to Baldwin and Perez, at least one elevator key was in the possession of the security force. Baldwin admitted that every evening the security force unlocked the elevator in order to get to the basement to change into their work clothes.
The Downstate Medical Center is located in the east Flatbush section of Brooklyn. A New York City police officer testified that the building is located within the 71st Precinct, which he described as an "A" house, a Police Department designation for a precinct located in a high crime area.
The law is well established that an owner or possessor of land is not an insurer of a visitor or tenant's safety. He does, however, have a duty to exercise reasonable care. Basso v. Miller, 40 N.Y.2d 233, 386 N.Y.S.2d 564, 352 N.E.2d 868. Moreover, "... a person voluntarily assumes the performance of a duty, he is required to perform it carefully, not omitting to do what an ordinary prudent person would do in accomplishing the task...." Wolf v. City of New York, 39 N.Y.2d 568, 573, 384 N.Y.S.2d 758, 349 N.E.2d 858. In the case at bar, there is no doubt that the defendant knew or should have known that because of the neighborhood, the buildings' tenants were susceptible to injury from outsiders. Recognizing the danger, the building management put a lock on the interior door and equipped the door with a self-closing device. As an additional precaution, it equipped the elevators with a locking device, which prevented them from going to the basement. The management had advised the tenants of this fact in a written memorandum. There is an abundance of evidence in the trial record that during the six...
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