Ingersoll v. Liberty Bank of Buffalo

Ingersoll (plaintiff) and her husband rented an apartment in a building owned by Liberty Bank (defendant), which knew of but failed to repair badly worn and cracked basement stairs; while carrying a heavy package down the stairs, Ingersoll's husband fell after a step broke, later died, and Ingersoll sued for negligence, arguing the broken step caused his fall, while Liberty argued he had instead fainted and dropped the package, which then broke the step. Though the jury found for Ingersoll, the court of appeals overturned the verdict for failure to prove a causal connection, and Ingersoll appealed further.