The Second Department determined defendants were entitled to summary judgment in this basketball-injury case. Plaintiff was deemed to have assumed the risk of slipping and falling on condensation on the floor of the court:
… [T]he defendants established … ,that the plaintiff was aware of and had assumed the risk that the floor of the basketball court would be slippery from condensation that had formed due to humid conditions in the gymnasium. The defendants’ submissions, including the plaintiff’s own deposition testimony, demonstrated that the plaintiff had played basketball in the gymnasium on more than 50 occasions prior to the day of the accident, knew that the gymnasium air was “humid” and had dry-mopped the gymnasium floor while playing basketball in the past when it was “getting wet” from “[c]ondensation,” and nevertheless continued playing basketball in the gymnasium on multiple occasions up until the date of the accident despite his awareness of this condition. Under these circumstances, the plaintiff assumed the risk of injury inherent in playing basketball on an indoor court which he knew to become slippery due to humid conditions in the gymnasium … . Lungen v Harbors Haverstraw Homeowners Assn., Inc., 2022 NY Slip Op 03717, Second Dept 6-8-22
Practice Point: Plaintiff was aware that the basketball court routinely became wet with condensation. Therefore he assumed the risk of slipping on the condensation while playing basketball.