Sargent v. Ross

Tina Sargent's young daughter Anna died after falling from a steep outdoor stairway at a residential building owned by landlord Fabiola Ross (defendant); Sargent (plaintiff), as administratrix, sued for negligent construction and maintenance of the stairway, and the jury found for Sargent. On appeal, the parties disputed whether the stairway counted as a common area under the landlord's control -- the traditional trigger for one of the narrow exceptions to landlord immunity -- with tenants arguing they lacked permission to alter it and the landlord arguing it wasn't a shared stairway serving multiple units.