Ann Whalen, Respondent v. the Citizens’ Gas Light Company, Appellant

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals reversed the judgment in favor of the plaintiff, holding that the plaintiff was contributorily negligent because she saw the displaced flagstone and voluntarily stepped over it despite an unobstructed path, thereby assuming the risk of injury. The court affirmed that contributory negligence must be affirmatively shown by the plaintiff and cannot be presumed absent.