You are here: / / CONFLICTING ASSERTIONS ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF LIQUID ON A STAIRWAY PRECLUDED...

CONFLICTING ASSERTIONS ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF LIQUID ON A STAIRWAY PRECLUDED SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department determined conflicting evidence about the presence of liquid on a stairway precluded summary judgment in this slip and fall case:

Plaintiff testified that on the day of the accident (Thanksgiving) she took the stairs down from the third floor and they were dry. This was sometime between 11:30am and noon that day. When she returned some twenty minutes later, sometime between 11:50 a.m. and 12:20 p.m., plaintiff walked up the same flight of stairs. On her way up, she noticed there was some liquid or water on the steps and she sidestepped the puddle. Later that day, at 3 p.m., plaintiff took the same flight of stairs a third time, this time with her son. Plaintiff testified that as she walked down the stairs at 3 p.m. she slipped and fell. Her testimony is that she slipped on water or some liquid substance that had no smell and that it was in the same location on the stairs where she had previously observed a puddle earlier that afternoon.

Defendant denies that it had actual notice of the condition alleged. Defendant’s building caretaker testified that she inspected the staircase twice that day, following an established schedule. Her first inspection was at approximately 8:20 a.m. and her second inspection was at 12:30 p.m.. The caretaker denied having seen any liquid or water on the steps either time and defendant also contends no one made any complaints about a wet condition on the stairs that day.

The conflicting testimony as to whether or not there was water on the steps at the time the caretaker’s second inspection implicates issues of credibility. If, as plaintiff claims, there was water on the steps at or shortly before 12:30 p.m., when the caretaker did her second inspection, then defendant knew, or in the exercise of reasonable care, should have known that a dangerous condition existed but, nevertheless, failed to remedy the situation … . The evidence submitted by defendant was not sufficient to demonstrate, prima facie, that defendant did not have actual notice of the allegedly hazardous condition prior to plaintiff’s fall … . Capers v New York City Hous. Auth., 2018 NY Slip Op 03749, First Dept 5-24-18

​NEGLIGENCE (SLIP AND FALL, CONFLICTING ASSERTIONS ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF LIQUID ON A STAIRWAY PRECLUDED SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE (FIRST DEPT))/SLIP AND FALL (CONFLICTING ASSERTIONS ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF LIQUID ON A STAIRWAY PRECLUDED SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE (FIRST DEPT))/CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE (SLIP AND FALL, CONFLICTING ASSERTIONS ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF LIQUID ON A STAIRWAY PRECLUDED SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE (FIRST DEPT))/ACTUAL NOTICE  (SLIP AND FALL, CONFLICTING ASSERTIONS ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF LIQUID ON A STAIRWAY PRECLUDED SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE (FIRST DEPT))/STAIRWAY (SLIP AND FALL, CONFLICTING ASSERTIONS ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF LIQUID ON A STAIRWAY PRECLUDED SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE (FIRST DEPT))

You might also like
PLAINTIFF FELL LEAVING AN ELEVATOR HE HAD JUST MODIFIED TO PREVENT ACCESS TO A FLOOR; HIS WORK WAS NOT ROUTINE MAINTENANCE; INDUSTRIAL CODE PROVISIONS ABOUT GUARDING HAZARDOUS OPENINGS APPLIED; ONE DEFENDANT MAY BE LIABLE AS A STATUTORY AGENT; LABOR LAW 200, 240(1) AND 241(6) CAUSES OF ACTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (FIRST DEPT). ​
No Proof of Service of Notice of Entry of Default Judgment; One Year Deadline Never Triggered​
1/2 Inch Variation in Stair-Step Height (In Violation of Fire Safety Code) Established Negligence
PLAINTIFFS DEMONSTRATED A DEMAND ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS TO PURSUE A DERIVATIVE ACTION WAS FUTILE; THE COMPLAINT ADEQUATELY ALLEGED BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY, A CLAIM FOR WHICH NO DAMAGES NEED BE ALLEGED (FIRST DEPT).
PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO DEEM A NOTICE OF CLAIM TIMELY SERVED IN THIS FALSE ARREST AND BATTERY ACTION AGAINST THE CITY DEFENDANTS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED; PLAINTIFF’S EXCUSE FOR LATE FILING WAS INADEQUATE; PLAINTIFF DID NOT SHOW THE CITY DEFENDANTS HAD TIMELY KNOWLEDGE OF THE NATURE OF THE CLAIM; AND PLAINTIFF DID NOT SHOW THE CITY WAS NOT PREJUDICED BY THE 11-MONTH DELAY IN FILING (FIRST DEPT).
Arbitrator’s Ruling that, Under the Terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, a Bus Driver Could Not Be Disciplined for Sexual Harassment While He Was On Union-Paid “Release Time,” Violated the Public Policy Prohibiting Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
PLAINTIFF ALLEGED THE COLLAPSE OF A CEILING CAUSED A BULGING DISC IN HER SPINE; SUPREME COURT HELD THE SURGERY TO REPAIR THE DISC CONSTITUTED SPOLIATION OF EVIDENCE AND PROHIBITED PLAINTIFF FROM INTRODUCING ANY EVIDENCE OF THE SPINE INJURY; THE 1ST DEPARTMENT REVERSED HOLDING THAT A SPOLIATION ANALYSIS CANNOT BE APPLIED TO MEDICAL TREATMENT (FIRST DEPT).
“Bad Faith Claims Handling” Cause of Action Properly Dismissed As Duplicative of Breach of Contract Cause of Action/Sanctions Appropriate for Inclusion of Dismissed Cause of Action in Amended Complaint

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

BUILDING INSPECTION REPORT STATED STAIRWAY WHERE PLAINTIFF FELL WAS IN NEED... QUESTIONS OF FACT ABOUT THE CAUSE OF PLAINTIFF’S FALL AND DEFENDANT’S...