Case: Medcalf v. Washington Heights Condominium Ass'n, Inc.

Parties: Plaintiff: Medcalf

Defendant: Washington Heights Condominium Ass'n, Inc.

Procedural History: Defendants filed motion for directed verdict; court denied
their motion. Jury found for plaintiff on one count (building's failure to
maintain building intercom). Defendants appealed.

Facts: Medcalf went to visit a friend that lived in Defendant's condominium

complex. She went to the lobby to call her friend who resided there. The
electricity buzzer to let her in did not work, and her friend said she would come
down to let her in. Before se could, a man attacked Medcalf, who suffered
injuries due to the attack. Medcalf filed suit against defendants for not
properly maintaining the buzzer system, because if it had been working, she would
not have been attacked.

Issue: Is Wash Heights liable for Medcalf's injuries due to injuries suffered
after she was attacked by a man, when she waited a long time to be let into the
condominium because the electronic buzzer, which is to be maintained by Was
Heights, did not work?

Holding: The court reversed and remanded because as a matter of law a jury
could not reasonably have found that failure to fix an intercom was the proximate
cause of an assault on plaintiff and resultant injury, so there could be no
finding of negligence.

Reasoning: The court held that the trial court should have entered judgment for
defendants as a matter of law, because plaintiff failed to establish an essential
element of negligence, proximate cause. The intervening criminal act of the
assailant was not within the scope of risk created by defendants' lack of
maintenance, because the primary reason buildings have buzzer systems is to
protect residents, not guests.

Notes:
But-for causation is satisfied.
What are we comparing by defining the scope of risk?
How do we know what the risk is that made the def negligent?
§ Risks- likelihood of harm x burden of precaution
§ Foreseeability
□ Reasonable person in the def position at the time of the
negligent conduct