Crider v. DUVALL, ETC.

Per Curiam. The appellant Crider, who was injured when he fell down the stairs as he was leaving a Christmas party given by his ⁵¹⁴ employer, was awarded a verdict by a jury which was taken from him by the action of the trial court in granting judgment n.o.v. for the defendant, the employer’s landlord. The appeal challenges the validity of the court’s action. Crider’s employer had had a place of business on the second floor of a new building in Kensington under lease for a month or so when the Christmas party was given.

Access was gained from the rear by four steps and from the front by a stairway of nineteen or more steps. Crider, an outside worker, was familiar with both entrances, having visited the company headquarters regularly once a day. He had gone up and down the front stairs at least once on the day of the accident. Crider’s claim of negligence is that the front stairs were unlighted save for light which emanated from the second floor premises of his employer when the door was open, and that there was no handrail.

If we assume that the question of primary negligence was one for the trier of fact, Crider cannot prevail if he was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law. He argues that it was for the jury to decide (1) whether he was intoxicated to the point of staggering when he fell, as the defendant below claimed, or sober after four beers, as he says he was; and (2) whether his conduct in attempting to