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PLAINTIFF DID NOT KNOW WHAT CAUSED HER TO SLIP ON A STAIRWAY STEP BUT SHE TESTIFIED SHE LOOKED FOR SOMETHING TO HOLD ONTO AND THERE WAS NO HANDRAIL; THERE WAS A QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER THE ABSENCE OF A HANDRAIL WAS A PROXIMATE CAUSE OF HER FALL (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendant’s motion for summary judgment in this stairway slip and fall case should not have been granted. Although plaintiff did not know what caused her to slip on the step, she testified she “wanted something to hold on to” but there was no handrail:

Although the plaintiff testified that she did not know what caused her to slip on the step, she also testified that she “wanted to hold onto something,” but she “didn’t have anything to hold onto.” Even if the plaintiff’s fall was precipitated by a misstep, her testimony that she looked for something to hold onto, but there was nothing there, presented “an issue of fact as to whether the absence of a handrail was a proximate cause of her injury” … . Flores v 1298 Grand, LLC, 2026 NY Slip Op 01340, Second Dept 3-11-26

Practice Point: Here plaintiff’s testimony that she did not know what caused her to slip on a stairway step did not warrant summary judgment in defendant’s favor. There was no handrail and plaintiff testified she “looked for something to hold onto.” Therefore a question of fact was raised about whether the absence of a handrail rendered the stairway unsafe and was a proximate cause of the fall.

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