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Keywords

plaintiffdamagesnegligenceliabilitylease
tortplaintiffdamagesnegligenceliabilityhearingwill

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Clay v. City of Jersey City, 74 N.J.Super. 490, 181 A.2d 545

Facts

The plaintiffs, Henry Clay and Van Leer Manufacturing Corp., owned and leased a factory building in Jersey City. They alleged that a defective sewer main owned by the city was leaking and causing sewage to undermine the building's foundation. Despite previous repairs, the building began to settle and sustain damage over the years. The plaintiffs sought to compel the city to repair the sewer main and recover damages for the harm caused by the city's negligence.

The evidence shows that in 1952 the southerly and easterly portions of the building began to settle; that as time went on cracks began to appear in the walls, door frames and stairs began to separate from the walls, and concrete slab floors began to settle.

Issue

Whether the City of Jersey City was liable for damages caused by a defective sewer main that undermined the plaintiffs' factory building and whether the plaintiffs were entitled to injunctive relief.

Whether the City of Jersey City was liable for damages caused by a defective sewer main that undermined the plaintiffs' factory building and whether the plaintiffs were entitled to injunctive relief.

Rule

A municipality has a duty to maintain its sewer systems in a condition that prevents damage to private property, and liability is determined under ordinary negligence principles.

In our State the operation of a sewer system by a municipality is held to be the exercise of a proprietary function, and liability is determined under ordinary principles of negligence, without regard to the municipal charter of the tort-feasor.

Analysis

The court applied the rule of negligence by finding that the city had notice of the sewer line's defects long before the plaintiffs notified them in 1957. The evidence showed that the city failed to maintain the sewer line, which directly caused the damage to the plaintiffs' building. The court concluded that the plaintiffs had established their claims by clear and convincing evidence.

This court having made said findings, the issues of damages and nature of injunctive relief to which plaintiffs were entitled were then presented to the court through further hearings which have now been concluded.

Conclusion

The court held that the plaintiffs were entitled to both injunctive relief and damages due to the city's negligence in maintaining the sewer line. The city was ordered to repair the sewer line to prevent further damage.

Judgment will be rendered accordingly and a proper form of judgment, consented to as to form or settled upon due notice pursuant to R.R. 4:55—1, should be presented.

Who won?

The plaintiffs, Henry Clay and Van Leer Manufacturing Corp., prevailed in the case because they successfully demonstrated the city's negligence and the resulting damage to their property.

The plaintiffs had established by clear and convincing evidence, which was free from all reasonable doubt, that the municipality's sewer main was leaking and defective and that the dispersal of sewage caused the undermining of building, entitling plaintiffs to injunctive relief and damages.

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