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PLAINTIFF, AT HER DEPOSITION, COULD NOT IDENTIFY THE CAUSE OF HER STAIRWAY SLIP AND FALL; COMPLAINT DISMISSED (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff in this stairway slip and fall, based upon her deposition testimony, could not identify the cause of her fall which required dismissal of the complaint:

“… [A] defendant can make its prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by establishing that the plaintiff cannot identify the cause of his or her fall without [resort to] speculation'” … . “‘[A] plaintiff’s inability to identify the cause of the fall is fatal to the cause of action, because a finding that the defendant’s negligence, if any, proximately caused the plaintiff’s injuries would be based on speculation'”  … . “‘Where it is just as likely that some other factor, such as a misstep or a loss of balance, could have caused [the plaintiff to fall], any determination by the trier of fact as to causation would be based upon sheer speculation'” …  .

Here, the defendants made a prima facie showing of their entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by submitting, inter alia, the plaintiff’s deposition testimony, in which she identified a defect in another step than that from which she fell as the cause of her accident and admitted that she did not know what caused her to lose her balance and fall. Thus, any determination that the defect identified by the plaintiff was the proximate cause of her accident, rather than a misstep or loss of balance, would be based on speculation … . De Rose v Anna & Rose Realty Co., LLC, 2023 NY Slip Op 04302, Second Dept 8-16-23

Practice Point: A slip and fall plaintiff who acknowledges in a deposition she does not know what caused her to fall loses the case.

 

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