Amos

When he was just two and a half years old, Carl Louis Amos fell out of a low, open, unprotected window in a common passageway on the second floor of his apartment building. He seeks to recover from the owners and managers of the building for the severe injuries he suffered in the fall. Relying on our opinion in Pineda v. Ennabe (1998) 61 Cal.App.4th 1403 [ 72 Cal.Rptr.2d 206 ], the trial court granted summary judgment to the defendants on the ground “defendants had no duty to assure that plaintiff did not fall out of the subject window.” We conclude the trial court’s reliance on Pineda was misplaced. Therefore, we reverse.

Facts and Proceedings Below

Carl and his mother were tenants of the apartment building where the accident took place. On the afternoon of the accident Carl was visiting a neighbor and her son in their apartment on the second floor. The neighbor placed two-and-a-half-year-old Carl in front of the television set in her living room and then went into the kitchen to prepare lunch for her son. After a few minutes she heard someone yell a baby had fallen out a window. She then noticed her front door was open and Carl was missing.

The window from which Carl…