DEFENDANT GROCERY STORE’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED; DEFENDANT POINTED TO GAPS IN PLAINTIFF’S PROOF INSTEAD OF AFFIRMATIVELY SHOWING IT DID NOT CREATE THE CONDITION (WATER ON THE FLOOR IN FRONT OF A VEGETABLE DISPLAY WITH MELTING ICE) (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendant grocery store’s motion for summary judgment in this slip and fall case should not have been granted. Defendant did not affirmatively demonstrate the water on the floor did not come from melted ice in adjacent vegetable display. A defendant can not win summary judgment by pointing to gaps in the plaintiff’s proof in opposition which will not even be considered until the moving party makes out a prima facie case:

A defendant moving for summary judgment in a slip-and-fall case has the initial burden of establishing that it neither created the hazardous condition that allegedly caused the fall, nor had actual or constructive notice of that condition for a sufficient length of time to discover and remedy it … . A defendant moving for summary judgment dismissing a complaint cannot satisfy its initial burden merely by pointing to gaps in the plaintiff’s case … .

Here, the defendants failed to establish, prima facie, that they did not create the allegedly dangerous condition that caused the plaintiff’s accident … . The defendants’ submissions in support of their motion failed to affirmatively demonstrate that the wet condition on the floor was not created by water and melted ice leaking from an asparagus display, which was adjacent to the location of the plaintiff’s fall. Lauzon v Stop & Shop Supermarket, 2020 NY Slip Op 06513, Second Dept 11-12-20