Palka v. Servicemaster Management Services Corp.

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• imposing tort liability on the contracting party defendant when its agreement was “comprehensive and exclusive,” rendering it the sole privatized provider of a safe and clean premises
• company that contracted with hospital to supervise preventative maintenance program was liable for injuries sustained by nurse when wall-mounted fan fell on her
• “the definition of the existence and scope of an alleged tortfeasor’s duty is usually a legal, policy-laden declaration reserved for Judges to make prior to submitting anything to fact-finding”
• “[T]he definition of the existence and scope of an alleged tortfeasor’s duty is usually a legal, policy-laden declaration reserved for Judges to make prior to submitting anything to fact-finding or jury consideration.”
• question of whether a duty exists is a legal question for the court
• “[W]hile the existence of a duty involves scrutiny of the wrongfulness of a defendant’s action or inaction, it correspondingly necessitates an examination of an injured person’s reasonable expectation of the care owed and the basis for the expectation and the legal imposition of a duty.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).