CONFLICTING EVIDENCE OF EXISTENCE OF PUDDLE CREATED A CREDIBILITY ISSUE IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE WHICH COULD NOT BE RESOLVED WITHOUT TRIAL.
The First Department determined conflicting evidence in this slip and fall case, submitted by defendants in support of summary judgment, created an issue of fact for trial:
Defendants' employees both testified that the building's janitorial schedule required that the stairs where plaintiff's fall occurred be cleaned before the time of the accident, and that they personally inspected the stairs several times on the morning of the accident, finding no such puddle at any time. In contrast, however, plaintiff's testimony, which was submitted by defendants, was that at nearly the same time that defendants' employees claim to have found the stairs urine-free, she observed a puddle of urine in the same spot where she would later fall. Furthermore, plaintiff's daughter stated that she observed a puddle of urine in the same spot two hours before the accident, which was several hours after plaintiff claimed to have seen the puddle … . Accordingly, summary judgment was not appropriate because there remain issues of fact as to the credibility of defendants' employees and whether the urine puddle was extant on the stairs for six hours prior to plaintiff's accident without remediation by defendants. Mendoza v Fordham-Bedford Hous. Corp., 2016 NY Slip Op 03997, 3rd Dept 5-24-16
NEGLIGENCE (CONFLICTING EVIDENCE OF EXISTENCE OF PUDDLE CREATED A CREDIBILITY ISSUE IN THIS SLOP AND FALL CASE WHICH COULD NOT BE RESOLVED WITHOUT TRIAL)/SLIP AND FALL (CONFLICTING EVIDENCE OF EXISTENCE OF PUDDLE CREATED A CREDIBILITY ISSUE IN THIS SLOP AND FALL CASE WHICH COULD NOT BE RESOLVED WITHOUT TRIAL)