Ruiz v. Victory Properties, LLC

107 A.3d 381 (2015)

From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Ruiz v. Victory Properties, LLC

Connecticut Supreme Court
107 A.3d 381 (2015)

Facts

Olga Rivera and her daughter Adriana Ruiz (plaintiffs) lived in an apartment building owned by Victory Properties, LLC (defendant). Adriana and other children routinely played in the building’s backyard. The backyard was unkept, containing furniture, an abandoned vehicle, and construction materials, including chunks of concrete. Despite receiving complaints about the backyard, Victory Properties did not remove the debris or safeguard it from access by the building’s children. One day, Adriana’s 10-year-old cousin Luis Cruz took a large chunk of concrete to his family’s third-floor apartment and dropped it out of the window to see if it would break upon hitting the ground. After dropping the concrete, Luis noticed Adriana in the backyard below. Luis shouted for Adriana to move, but the concrete struck Adriana on the head, causing significant injuries. Rivera, on behalf of herself and Adriana, sued Victory Properties for negligence based on Victory Properties’ failure to remove the loose concrete from the backyard. Victory Properties moved for summary judgment, arguing that negligence liability was inappropriate because Victory Property’s conduct was not a proximate cause of Adriana’s injuries. The trial court granted the motion, holding that Victory Properties was not liable as a matter of law because it did not have a duty to protect against the unforeseeable risk of injury from a child throwing concrete out of a third-floor window. The appellate court reversed, holding that the general type of harm, namely injury to one child from another throwing a large chunk of concrete, was a reasonably foreseeable risk of not removing the concrete from the backyard. Victory Properties appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Palmer, J.)

Dissent (Zarella, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 806,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials
  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 806,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 806,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership