Great moments in foreseeability

“Kid Throws A Cinderblock Off Balcony, And Landlord May Be Liable” [Daniel Fisher, Forbes, on Connecticut Supreme Court’s ruling in Ruiz v. Victory Properties “that a landlord may be liable for allowing a 10-year-old to throw an 18-pound cinderblock from the balcony of his mother’s apartment … [because] the landlord should have known the construction materials and other junk laying around behind the building could become deadly missiles in the hands of a child.”]

5 Comments

  • Sounds like strict liability to me, liabilty triggered purely by the existence of a child victim and a horrific injury.

    Unnnnnbelievable.

  • I’ve been fond of this quote ever since 1L.

    “Life is too short to pursue every human act to its most remote consequences; “for want of a nail, a kingdom was lost” is a commentary on fate, not the statement of a major cause of action against a blacksmith.” – Scalia

    Holmes v. Secs. Investor Protection Corp. (90-727), 503 U.S. 258 (1992).

  • Well, we know the “correct” solution to this will be to weld the doors to the balcony shut.

  • Would the court’s analysis be different if the kid had dropped one of the rocks?

  • @Crabtree: Why take the risk? Remove balconies.

    They may fall off; people may fall off of them; and as per the instant case, things can be thrown off them.