New York Civil Law posted about an odd premises liability case out of the Appellate Division, First Department entitled Gilson v. Metropolitan Opera (see prior post).  The New York Court of Appeals in its recent decision agreed with the Majority at the First Department, concluding that the premises owner did not breach a duty to the plaintiff when it failed to accompany a attendee who attempted to return to his seat after the show had begun and the lights had dimmed. The attendee, who had Parkinson’s disease and walked unsteadily, fell onto the plaintiff, causing her to fall and injure herself.

Although the decision gives another good overview of a duty of care analysis, the real nugget in this case is the reaffirmance of the proposition that it is not evidence of negligence where a landowner violates his or her internal policy, where that internal policy transcends reasonable care.  Here, the plaintiff unsuccessfully argued that the defendant acted negligently by failing to accompany the attendee to his seat given the policy to do so when the lights are dimmed.