Landlord Not to Blame for Office Tenant’s Desktop Fall

What Happened: After safely pulling off the stunt on several occasions, an office tenant who climbed onto his desk and used a broomstick to close hard-to-reach blinds fell to the floor and broke his spine. Blaming his injuries on the landlord’s failure to maintain the premises in a safe condition, he sued for medical bills and damages. When the court rejected his negligence claims, he appealed.

Decision: The Illinois appeals court upheld the decision to toss the case without a trial.

Reasoning: The mechanism for opening and closing the blinds was in a fairly inaccessible location, the court acknowledged. But the tenant never complained or asked the landlord to fix the problem, even after losing his balance and nearly falling on previous occasions. And while landlords are responsible for dangerously defective conditions in common areas, the blinds were located inside the office in a part of the property under the tenant’s control. Besides, the real hazard here wasn’t the blinds but the tenant’s deliberate decision to use the desktop as a ladder.

• Holden v. Wilson Mgmt., LLC: 2019 IL App (2d) 180930-U, 2019 Ill. App. Unpub. LEXIS 1372