Iden v. Zeeman Clothing Co.

WEST, J. pro tem. The appeal herein was taken by plaintiffs from a judgment rendered in favor of the defendants. Following the institution of the appeal, the plaintiff and appellant, W. A. Iden, died, and Josephine Lewis Iden was appointed special administratrix of his estate, and was substituted in the action in such capacity. Plaintiffs instituted the action to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by plaintiff Josephine Lewis Iden, which were alleged to have been caused by negligence on the part of the defendants. Defendants by their answer denied that they were guilty of any negligence which had caused injury or damage to plaintiffs, and as an affirmative defense alleged that any injuries sustained by plaintiffs had been contributed to, directly and proximately by negligence upon the part of the plaintiff Josephine Lewis Iden.

Respondent M. J. Connell, Inc., was at the time of the accident the owner of a business building in the city of Los Angeles. Respondent Zeeman Clothing Company, Inc., was a tenant of the building and operated a retail clothing store on the fourth floor thereof. On February 6, 1939, plaintiffs, who were husband and wife, visited the Zeeman store for the purpose of purchasing merchandise. While in the Zeeman premises, Mrs. Iden had occasion to go to the ladies’ rest room, which opened from a hallway proceeding through the center of the building. She procured a key, proceeded to the door of the rest room and unlocked the door. The floor of the rest room was 814 inches above the floor of the adjacent hallway, and the step was negotiated by a single rise, there being no intermediate step or landing between the two floor levels. The door from the hall into the rest room opened inward, the edge of the step being almost flush with the north wall of the hallway. Directly across the hall from the rest room door was located the salesroom of a business concern which had frosted glass windows in the partition facing the hall and through which some light entered the hall. Other illumination was afforded from a skylight located several feet along the hallway from the rest room door. The door also had a panel of frosted glass. Several light fixtures hung from the ceiling along the hallway, each fixture containing a 60 watt lamp. The cement floor and baseboard of the hall were gray in color. The plastered walls of the hall were cream or tan and the floor of the rest room itself was of neutral color. At the time of the accident the light in the [113]rest room was not lighted, and whether or not the ceiling lamps in the hallway were turned on was disputed. The sufficiency of illumination in the hall generally was also a point of contention.