DEFENDANTS FAILED TO DEMONSTRATE A LACK OF ACTUAL OR CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE OF THE CONDITION WHICH CAUSED PLAINTIFF TO SLIP AND FALL; PLAINTIFF ADEQUATELY IDENTIFIED THE CAUSE OF HER FALL; DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendants’ motion for summary judgment in this slip and fall case should not have been granted because they failed to establish they lacked actual or constructive notice of the alleged hump in a runner over which plaintiff tripped. The First Department noted that plaintiff had adequately identified the cause of her fall:

Defendants’ failure to establish prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law requires the denial of the motion regardless of the strength of plaintiff’s opposition … . They failed to offer evidence of their inspection routines, including evidence regarding the last time the accident site was inspected … .

In any event, plaintiff raises factual issues. Although plaintiff did not actually observe what caused her to trip and fall over an inclement weather runner in the lobby of defendants’ building, her evidence, together with reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, including that she felt the toebox of her right foot slide under what felt to be a hump in the runner, causing her foot to get caught, and her to lose her balance and fall, sufficiently identified the cause of her fall … . Mandel v 340 Owners Corp., 2020 NY Slip Op 07316, First Dept 12-8-20