TESTIMONY THERE HAD BEEN NO COMPLAINTS ABOUT A HOLE ON THE DEFENDANT CEMETERY GROUNDS DID NOT DEMONSTRATE A LACK OF NOTICE IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE, DEFENDANT’S SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION PROPERLY DENIED (FIRST DEPT).
The First Department determined defendant’s motion for summary judgment in this “stepped in a hole” case was properly denied. The testimony that the defendant cemetery had not received any complaints about a hole and the absence of any evidence of when the area was last inspected did not demonstrate the lack of actual or constructive notice:
Defendant did not establish its entitlement to judgment as a matter of law in this action where plaintiff allegedly injured her ankle when she stepped in a hole on defendant’s grounds. The fact that defendant’s director testified that he did not receive any complaints about the condition of the grounds prior to the accident does not establish that defendant lacked actual notice of the hole, because the director did not state that he was working on the day of the accident … .
Defendant also failed to demonstrate that it lacked constructive notice of the hole. Its director’s testimony that he would inspect the premises when his duties permitted does not establish when the subject location was last checked before the accident … . Savio v St. Raymond Cemetery, 2018 NY Slip Op 02906, First Dept 4-26-18
NEGLIGENCE (SLIP AND FALL, TESTIMONY THERE HAD BEEN NO COMPLAINTS ABOUT A HOLE ON THE DEFENDANT CEMETERY GROUNDS DID NOT DEMONSTRATE A LACK OF NOTICE IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE, DEFENDANT’S SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION PROPERLY DENIED (FIRST DEPT))/SLIP AND FALL (TESTIMONY THERE HAD BEEN NO COMPLAINTS ABOUT A HOLE ON THE DEFENDANT CEMETERY GROUNDS DID NOT DEMONSTRATE A LACK OF NOTICE IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE, DEFENDANT’S SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION PROPERLY DENIED (FIRST DEPT))/NOTICE (SLIP AND FALL, HOLE, TESTIMONY THERE HAD BEEN NO COMPLAINTS ABOUT A HOLE ON THE DEFENDANT CEMETERY GROUNDS DID NOT DEMONSTRATE A LACK OF NOTICE IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE, DEFENDANT’S SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION PROPERLY DENIED (FIRST DEPT))