PLAINTIFF INJURED WHEN LAWN CHAIR SANK INTO A HOLE CONCEALED BY GRASS, QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER LANDOWNER HAD ACTUAL NOTICE OF THE CONDITION (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department determined defendant property owner’s motion for summary judgment should not have been granted. Plaintiff was injured when she sat down in a lawn chair which sank into a hole concealed by grass:

Landowners have a duty to maintain their property in a reasonably safe condition under all of the circumstances, including the likelihood of injury to others, the seriousness of the potential injuries, and the burden of avoiding the risk… . Contrary to the defendants’ contention, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, the defendants failed to demonstrate, prima facie, that the alleged concealed hole in the lawn was a ” naturally occurring topographic condition,'” inherent in the nature of the property, that the defendants ” could not reasonably be expected to remedy'” … .

The defendants established their prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law dismissing the complaint by demonstrating, prima facie, that they did not create the allegedly dangerous condition or have actual or constructive notice of it prior to the subject accident… . However, in opposition, the plaintiff raised a triable issue of fact, at least, as to whether the defendants had actual notice of the condition prior to the accident. Mustafaj v Macri, 2018 NY Slip Op 04554, Second Dept 6-20-18

​NEGLIGENCE (PLAINTIFF INJURED WHEN LAWN CHAIR SANK INTO A HOLE CONCEALED BY GRASS, QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER LANDOWNER HAD ACTUAL NOTICE OF THE CONDITION (SECOND DEPT))/LAWN CHAIRS (NEGLIGENCE, PLAINTIFF INJURED WHEN LAWN CHAIR SANK INTO A HOLE CONCEALED BY GRASS, QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER LANDOWNER HAD ACTUAL NOTICE OF THE CONDITION (SECOND DEPT))