Must Tenant Indemnify Owner for Injury on Stairway?

While descending a stairway to enter a restaurant, a person fell and was injured when the handrail collapsed. The person sued the owner, and the owner sued to make the restaurant tenant part of the lawsuit. The owner's and tenant's lease required the tenant to indemnify—that is, reimburse—and hold harmless the owner against any claims and lawsuits by third parties for injuries occurring at the “Demised Space.” So the owner asked the court to rule without a trial that the tenant had to indemnify the owner for any damages paid to the injured person. The tenant argued that it didn't have to indemnify the owner because the stairway wasn't part of the “Demised Space.”

A Connecticut court ruled that a trial was needed to decide whether the tenant had to indemnify the owner. The court noted that the lease required the tenant to indemnify the owner if there was a personal injury 1) “arising from or out of any occurrence, in, upon, or at the Demised Space”; 2) arising from the tenant's use or occupancy of the “Demised Space or Premises or any part thereof”; or 3) caused by the tenant's default, act, or omission. The lease defined the “Demised Space” as 2,780 rentable square feet in the basement of the building. “Premises” meant the building, Demised Space, common areas, and land under the building. The court said that evidence was needed to determine whether the stairway was part of the Demised Space, the Premises, or the common areas; whether the tenant used or occupied the stairway; and/or whether the tenant's default, act, or omission contributed to the injury [Byers v. Main St. Shops].