In the matter of Egar v. Congregation Talmud Torah, the court dismissed the case filed by the plaintiff who tripped over the temple’s “eruv” wire. The “eruv” wires were strung 15 to 18 feet above ground, creating a symbolic walled courtyard. The court found that neither the congregation, who constructed the wire courtyard, nor St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, where the accident took place, had constructive notice of a recurrent dangerous condition, despite the fact that an eruv wire fell in a different location approximately one year prior to the plaintiff’s accident. The court focused its opinion on the principle that a single prior occurrence does not constitute a regularly recurring condition that the defendants would be aware of.
Thanks to Lora Gleicher for her contribution to this post.