Griffin v. Northridge
California Court of Appeal
153 P.2d 800 (1944)
After the Griffins (plaintiffs) built a house next to the Northridges (defendants), the Northridges engaged in an escalating pattern of harassment, including killing the Griffins' flowers, splattering paint on their walls and windows, yelling insults at Mrs. Griffin, making noise at all hours, placing garbage cans under the Griffins' dining room window, and erecting an unsightly wall along the property line that blocked sunlight, ventilation, and views; the Griffins sued for nuisance, sold their home before trial, and the trial court awarded $1,000 in damages, which the Northridges appealed.
Whether a sustained pattern of individually minor harassing conduct, none of which alone might qualify as a nuisance, can collectively constitute a compensable nuisance interfering with a plaintiff's comfortable enjoyment of property.