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DEFENDANTS DID NOT DEMONSTRATE THRESHOLD STRIP WHICH ALLEGEDLY CAUSE PLAINTIFF TO SLIP AND FALL WAS NOT INHERENTLY DANGEROUS AND TRIVIAL AS A MATTER OF LAW, DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendants did not demonstrate the threshold strip which allegedly caused plaintiff to slip and fall was not inherently dangerous and was trivial:

“[W]hether a dangerous or defective condition exists on the property of another so as to create liability depends on the peculiar facts and circumstances of each case” … , and the existence or nonexistence of a defect or dangerous condition “is generally a question of fact for the jury” … . Defendants’ submissions in support of their motion included excerpts of plaintiffs’ deposition testimony and defendants’ affidavits, which raised a question of fact whether the threshold strip on the step created an unreasonably dangerous or defective condition. We further conclude that summary judgment dismissing the complaint was not warranted on the ground that the alleged defect was, as a matter of law, too trivial to be actionable. It is well settled that “a small difference in height or other physically insignificant defect is actionable if its intrinsic characteristics or the surrounding circumstances magnify the dangers it poses, so that it unreasonably imperil[s] the safety of’ a pedestrian” . Here, it is impossible to ascertain from the black and white photographs submitted by defendants in support of the motion the width, depth, elevation, height differential or actual appearance of the threshold, and thus defendants failed to establish that the defect was, in fact, trivial. In addition, the threshold and step were located in a doorway, “where a person’s attention would be drawn to the door, not to the [step]” … . Wiedenbeck v Lawrence, 2019 NY Slip Op 02246, Fourth Dept 3-22-19

 

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