Maidman v. Metropolitan Trading Co.

WHITE, P. J.

Plaintiff appeals from the judgment for defendant in an action for damages for injuries to plaintiff’s person caused by his collision with a plateglass door on premises owned by defendant.

On the day of the accident, plaintiff parked his automobile in the parking lot at the rear of defendant’s building, paid the attendant, received his ticket, and walked toward the door from the parking lot into the rear of defendant’s building, which was occupied by defendant’s tenants, who were doctors, dentists, a medical laboratory, and a pharmacy.

Plaintiff had never been to the building before. He asked the parking lot attendant if that door led to the pharmacy. The attendant said that it did, opened the door outward into the lot, and held it open for plaintiff to pass through it into a narrow hall 12 to 16 feet long. At the other end of the hall there was a wooden door with a glass panel which opened into the lobby of the building. (The hall had a slope toward the parking lot of about 4% inches, uniformly distributed over its entire length. Plaintiff did not notice the slope of the hall while walking through it, but measured it before the trial.) Plaintiff opened the wooden door with the glass panel and entered the lobby. There were other doors leading from the lobby to Wilshire Boulevard, the pharmacy, and the driveway from Wilshire to the parking lot, respectively.

On the day of the accident, plaintiff proceeded through

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the lobby into the pharmacy. In addition to its door from the lobby, the pharmacy had a door directly onto Wilshire Boulevard. In the pharmacy, plaintiff talked with several friends and with his son-in-law who was a part owner of the pharmacy. He stayed there about half an hour, made a small purchase, and attempted to leave the building by the same route used by him when entering. He was injured when he collided with the plateglass door between the narrow hall and the parking lot.

The action was tried by the court sitting without a jury and, upon stipulation of counsel, the question of liability was tried first.

Appellant claims that the following errors require reversal: (1) the finding that defendant was not negligent as alleged is not supported by any evidence; (2) the finding that plaintiff was negligent and that his negligence was a contributing cause of his injuries is not supported by the evidence; (3) the exclusion of plaintiff’s proffered testimony that he expected the door to open outward when he applied pressure upon it; and (4) the admission of evidence of defendant’s custom in regard to the locking of the plateglass door.