FACT THAT OBJECT OVER WHICH PLAINTIFF TRIPPED AND FELL WAS OPEN AND OBVIOUS DID NOT RELIEVE DEFENDANT OF LIABILITY AS A MATTER OF LAW.

The First Department determent the fact that the object over which plaintiff tripped and fell was “open and obvious” did not relieve defendant of liability as a matter of law. Plaintiff tripped over a wheeled cart which had been in an aisle of defendant's discount store. A question of fact remained whether defendant maintained the store in a reasonably safe condition. That plaintiff saw the cart was relevant to plaintiff's comparative negligence:

Although plaintiff admitted that she saw the pulley bag before she tripped, so that it was an “open and obvious” condition, defendant failed to demonstrate that it fulfilled its broad obligation to maintain the store in a reasonably safe condition … . An issue of fact exists as to whether the placement of the pulley bag with its protruding metal stand, along with the other merchandise cluttering the store's aisles, was an inherently dangerous condition that presented a tripping hazard … . That plaintiff saw the bag before tripping does not require dismissal of the complaint, but is relevant to the issue of her comparative negligence … . Johnson-Glover v Fu Jun Hao Inc., 2016 NY Slip Op 02748, 1st Dept 4-12-16