Stone v. Smith-Premier Typewriter Co.

Citations

• 48 Wash. 204
• 93 P. 209
• 1908 Wash. LEXIS 830

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Dangerous Premises — Trapdoor —• Contributory Negligence. A customer in a store is not guilty of contributory negligence, as a matter of law, in falling down a trapdoor, at the back of a storeroom near a counter where goods were displayed, where she stepped back from the counter to make room for a clerk, and did not know of the existence of, or see, the trapdoor.</p> <p>Same — -Parties Liable. In an action by a customer of one of two occupants of a storeroom against two occupants of the premises, for damages sustained in falling down a trapdoor at the side of the room visited by the customer, a nonsuit is properly directed as to the occupant of the other side of the room, where it is not shown that he had any control over the trapdoor other than a mere license to use it, and it is not shown who left the door open.</p>