THE ROLLED UP MAT WHICH CAUSED PLAINTIFF TO SLIP AND FALL WAS KNOWN TO THE PLAINTIFF AND WAS OPEN AND OBVIOUS; DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the rolled up map which caused plaintiff’s slip and fall was open and obvious and therefore nonactionable:

While a possessor of real property has a duty to maintain that property in a reasonably safe condition … , “there is no duty to protect or warn against an open and obvious condition that, as a matter of law, is not inherently dangerous” … . “A condition is open and obvious if it is ‘readily observable by those employing the reasonable use of their senses, given the conditions at the time of the accident'” … .

Here, the defendants established their prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by submitting evidence demonstrating that the rolled-up mat, which was known to the plaintiff prior to the accident, was open and obvious, and was not inherently dangerous … . Williams v E & R Jamaica Food Corp., 2022 NY Slip Op 01065, Second Dept 2-16-22