DEFENDANTS DEMONSTRATED THEY DID NOT HAVE CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE OF THE WET CONDITION ON THE STAIRS IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE, DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FIRST DEPT).
The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendants’ motion for summary judgment in this stairway slip and fall case should have been granted. Defendants demonstrated they did not have constructive notice of a wet condition:
Defendants … relied on plaintiff’s testimony that, in the 15 minutes before his accident, he had gone up and down the stairs without incident and did not notice any liquid or water on the steps, demonstrating that the alleged dangerous condition was not visible and apparent for a sufficient time before the accident to provide constructive notice … . Although plaintiff did testify that he saw a woman with a mop coming down the stairs as he was going upstairs the first time, implying that she could have caused the wet condition, he acknowledged that the surveillance video did not show any woman with a mop. Furthermore, defendants’ witnesses stated that the daytime worker for defendant United Building Maintenance Associates, Inc. was only responsible for cleaning the area near the ATM machines on the first floor and never mopped, and that the staircase was cleaned by night personnel. Fernandez v JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA, 2019 NY Slip Op 01645, First Dept 5-7-19