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PLAINTIFF COULD NOT IDENTIFY CAUSE OF THE FALL AND ANY DEFECTS IN THE SIDEWALK WERE INSIGNIFICANT.

The First Department determined defendants’ motion for summary judgment in this sidewalk slip and fall case was properly granted. Plaintiff could not identify the cause of the fall and any defect that might have existed was deemed trivial:

Defendants established prima facie that any defect in the sidewalk that allegedly caused plaintiff to trip and fall was insignificant and that there were no surrounding circumstances that magnified the dangers it posed … . They submitted plaintiff’s testimony that he could not describe the characteristics of the alleged defect or specify exactly where on the sidewalk he fell, and an affidavit by an expert who took photographs and measured the area and found no defect presenting an elevation differential of more than one quarter inch and no space between sidewalk slabs greater than one half inch. Contrary to plaintiff’s contention, the fact that the photographs were taken and the inspection performed almost two years after the accident is immaterial. Defendants submitted testimony that there had been no repairs to the sidewalk since the accident, and plaintiff does not argue that the photographs do not show the sidewalk in substantially the same condition as existed at the time of the accident.

In opposition, plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact. He was unable to describe the defect, except to say that it was not wide and it was not deep, and he cites no surrounding circumstances that enhanced the danger. Nor did he offer any measurements of the alleged defects in the area of his fall in refutation of defendants’ expert’s measurements. Saab v CVS Caremark Corp., 2016 NY Slip Op 07763, 1st Dept 11-17-16

NEGLIGENCE (PLAINTIFF COULD NOT IDENTIFY CAUSE OF FALL AND ANY DEFECTS IN THE SIDEWALK WERE INSIGNIFICANT)/SLIP AND FALL (PLAINTIFF COULD NOT IDENTIFY CAUSE OF FALL AND ANY DEFECTS IN THE SIDEWALK WERE INSIGNIFICANT)/SIDEWALKS (SLIP AND FALL, PLAINTIFF COULD NOT IDENTIFY CAUSE OF FALL AND ANY DEFECTS IN THE SIDEWALK WERE INSIGNIFICANT)/TRIVIAL DEFECTS (PLAINTIFF COULD NOT IDENTIFY CAUSE OF FALL AND ANY DEFECTS IN THE SIDEWALK WERE INSIGNIFICANT)

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