Martin Snyder, Plaintiff-Respondent v. I. Jay Realty Co., and Arnold Sachs, Isidore Sachs and J. Milton Sachs…

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed the Appellate Division's judgment that the landlord, I. Jay Realty Co., owed a duty of reasonable care to maintain the common passageway safe for the plaintiff, a licensee of the tenant and thus an invitee of the landlord, and reversed the dismissal of the tenant, holding that the tenant owed no duty to the plaintiff. The Court held that issues of duty, contributory negligence, and assumption of risk should be submitted to the jury. A dissent argued that both landlord and tenant should be liable, while a concurring/dissenting opinion contended the plaintiff was a trespasser owed no duty.