Winant v. Approved Ladder & Equipment Corporation

• Decision Date: 07 January 1971
• Citation: Winant v. Approved Ladder & Equipment Corporation, 319 N.Y.S.2d 72, 28 N.Y.2d 529 (N.Y. 1971)
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: , 267 N.E.2d 885 Thomas WINANT, Appellant, v. APPROVED LADDER & EQUIPMENT CORPORATION, Respondent.

Page 72

319 N.Y.S.2d 72

28 N.Y.2d 529, 267 N.E.2d 885

Thomas WINANT, Appellant, v. APPROVED LADDER & EQUIPMENT CORPORATION, Respondent.

Court of Appeals of New York.

Jan. 7, 1971.

Appeal from Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, 31 A.D.2d 965, 298 N.Y.S.2d 796. John J. Mason, Cambria Heights (Jeremiah A. O'Leary, Stephen W. O'Leary, Robert Devine, Thomas G. Mason, Steven E. Pegalis, Jamaica, of counsel), for plaintiff-appellant.

Albert P. Thill, Brooklyn, for defendant-respondent.

Action was brought for injuries sustained by plaintiff when ladder rented from defendant collapsed.

The Supreme Court, Nassau County, rendered a judgment dismissing the complaint, and the plaintiff appealed.

The Appellate Division affirmed the judgment. The Appellate Division held that even though jury could have found that defendant breached implied warranty of fitness for use intended and was negligent in failing to discover latent defect in ladder exculpatory provisions of rental agreement precluded recovery. Martuscello, J., dissented.

The plaintiff appealed to the Court of Appeals, contending that it is erroneous under the letter of the law and harsh and unreasonable under the spirit of the law to hold as a matter of law that one partner's signature on a purported...