Kimberly Reiser says she broke her arm and dislocated her shoulder on what her lawsuit calls a “defective and hazardous wooden stair”. The claim is an allegation, and the city has not been reported as responding.
A Pennsylvania woman has sued the City of Salem, Massachusetts, for $767,825 over a fall at the Jonathan Corwin House, which tourists know as The Witch House. Kimberly Reiser was on a group tour in November 2023 when she tripped on a staircase, according to the lawsuit. She filed a slip-and-fall negligence claim in Essex County Superior Court on 8 October. The claim was reported as $800,000 in some coverage, but the court filings give the figure as $767,825.
What the lawsuit alleges
The suit says Ms Reiser was going down the “only available” staircase in the 17th-century home of Salem Witch Trials judge Jonathan Corwin when the back lip of her shoe caught on “a defective and hazardous wooden stair”. It says she fell five or six steps, landing on her left shoulder and hitting the wall about four to six steps from the bottom.
Court documents say she suffered a broken humerus and a dislocated left shoulder. The damages sought break down as follows:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Hospital treatment | $128,276 |
| Physical therapy | $35,819 |
| Ambulance | $1,730 |
| Lost wages | $2,000 |
| Pain and suffering | $600,000 |
| Total | $767,825 |
Pain and suffering account for about 78% of the total. The alleged defect remains an allegation and not an established safety violation. It could not be confirmed that Salem has admitted responsibility, that an inspection found the staircase defective, or that other visitors have reported injuries on it. It has not been confirmed that the staircase has since been changed or closed, that a judge has ruled on the claim, or that a settlement has been reached. No statement from the City of Salem was found.
A possible legal limit
The research notes say the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act (Chapter 258, Section 2) generally caps a public employer’s liability for ordinary negligence at $100,000 per injured person. That could be significant, as the Witch House is run by the city’s Park and Recreation Department, according to the city’s budget documents, and the claim is against the city. The Supreme Judicial Court has previously held that the cap generally applies per plaintiff and not per claim.
This does not mean Ms Reiser’s recovery would be capped at $100,000. A court would have to decide which legal provisions apply, and whether any exceptions or other grounds for liability are relevant.
Access and preservation
Minutes of the Salem Commission on Disabilities, dated 21 April 2009, record that the Witch House asked for an accessibility variance, which was approved. They also state that the museum’s director wanted a video made of parts of the building that were not accessible. This shows officials discussed access limits there years before the alleged fall, but the records do not show the staircase in question was defective or that the city had been warned about it.
Historic status does not automatically remove a museum’s duty to keep visitors safe. A court might have to consider whether the staircase posed an unreasonable danger, whether the city knew of any hazard and what precautions were reasonably available. The approved variance is not itself evidence that the city complied with or breached its obligations.
About the house
Jonathan Corwin, a magistrate who examined people accused of witchcraft, bought the building in 1675 and lived there for more than four decades. It is one of Salem’s few surviving buildings linked to the 1692 trials, although there is no established evidence that the examinations were held inside it.
The house was threatened with demolition in 1944 so a nearby road could be widened. A preservation campaign raised about $42,500, the building was moved roughly 35 feet and restored to recover its 17th-century appearance, and it reopened as a museum in the late 1940s. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of Salem’s McIntire Historic District. There is no evidence that the move contributed to Ms Reiser’s fall.
