Legal analysis from Dean's Law Dictionary will be displayed here.

This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

P owned a four-story building. P and her son operated a luncheonette and a bar on the first floor of the building. The second and third floors were leased to Spartacus, Inc., which conducted a massage parlor on the second floor. Evidence was introduced at trial tending to show that the massage parlor also utilized at least a portion of the third floor. At the rear of the third floor, there was a padlocked room or a section partitioned off from the remainder of the floor. Philip 'Red' Pinkney, P's handyman and janitor lived there. P kept supplies on the fourth floor and maintained a small office there as well. She occasionally remained overnight on the fourth floor rather than return to her residence. P was not staying there the night of the fire, but two friends of hers were residing there temporarily and were killed. A third person was also killed in the fire. The insurance policy in question provided $345,000 of fire insurance with a $1,000 deductible provision. It contained a section, Endorsement No. 4, expressly incorporated into the policy, which stated in part: 'Warranted that the 3rd floor is occupied as Janitor's residence.' D refused to pay the claim, citing an alleged breach of the warranty. P sued D. The court denied P's motion for a directed verdict and proceeded to charge the jury that the warranty regarding the third floor was breached if a massage parlor occupied any significant portion of the floor, regardless of whether the janitor had a residence there as well. The jury was also instructed that if the third floor was totally unoccupied this too would constitute a breach of the warranty. The jury found that D proved by a preponderance of the evidence that P breached the warranty. P appealed.

The legal issues presented in this case will be displayed here.

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