DEFENDANT GYM DID NOT DEMONSTRATE AN ACCUMULATION OF DUST ON THE BASKETBALL COURT FLOOR WAS INHERENT IN THE SPORT OR OPEN AND OBVIOUS, DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT BASED ON THE ASSUMPTION OF THE RISK DOCTRINE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined that the assumption of the risk doctrine did not entitle defendant gym to summary judgment. Plaintiff was playing basketball when he allegedly slipped and fell on an accumulation of dust on the indoor court:

An owner may not be held liable if the injury results from certain conditions inherent in a participant’s outdoor game of basketball  … . The same is true if a condition on an indoor basketball court is otherwise open and obvious … .

Here, defendant failed to establish that accumulated dust on an indoor basketball court is inherent in the sport of basketball. Nor did defendant establish that the alleged condition was an open and obvious one … . Samuels v Town Sports Intl., LLC, 2019 NY Slip Op 05477, First Dept 7-9-19