Opinion
2013-11-12
Wanda TORRES, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. 1420 REALTY, L.L.C., et al., Defendants–Respondents, Jose Toribio, Defendant.
Brian J. Isaac, New York, for appellant. Conway, Farrell, Curtin & Kelly, P.C., New York (Jonathan T. Uejio of counsel), for respondents.
Brian J. Isaac, New York, for appellant. Conway, Farrell, Curtin & Kelly, P.C., New York (Jonathan T. Uejio of counsel), for respondents.
TOM, J.P., ANDRIAS, FRIEDMAN, FREEDMAN, CLARK, JJ.
Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Lizbeth Gonzalez, J.), entered July 20, 2012, which granted defendants-respondents' motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint as against them, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
Plaintiff sustained injuries when she fell after the paint bucket she was using as a step stool tilted over, allegedly due to the uneven condition of the floor of her apartment in defendants' building. Plaintiff's independent and superseding act of using the paint bucket as a step stool, which was placed on an uneven floor, was not foreseeable, thereby breaking the chain of causation ( see Montgomery v. Federal Express Corp., 4 N.Y.3d 805, 795 N.Y.S.2d 490, 828 N.E.2d 592 [2005];Derdiarian v. Felix Contr. Corp., 51 N.Y.2d 308, 315, 434 N.Y.S.2d 166, 414 N.E.2d 666 [1980];compare Gonzalez v. Handwerger, 180 A.D.2d 411, 579 N.Y.S.2d 367 [1st Dept.1992] ).