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DEFENDANT BUILDING OWNER AND MANAGER WERE ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE UNDER THE STORM-IN-PROGRESS DOCTRINE, 18 INCHES OF SNOW HAD FALLEN LESS THAN TWO HOURS BEFORE; PLAINTIFF SLIPPED AND FELL ON WATER ON STAIRS IN THE LOBBY; PLAINTIFF’S OWN TESTIMONY DEMONSTRATED DEFENDANTS DID NOT HAVE CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE OF THE CONDITION (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the defendants (the building owner and manager) were not liable for plaintiff’s slip and fall on water on interior stairs because of the storm-in-progress doctrine:

Defendants, the owner and manager of the building in which plaintiff was injured, established their entitlement to summary judgment by submitting undisputed meteorological data establishing that plaintiff’s accident occurred no more than 1 hour and 50 minutes after cessation of a major winter storm, which resulted in the accumulation of more than 18 inches of snow. Thus, under the storm-in-progress doctrine, defendants’ duty to maintain the lobby in a safe condition was suspended at the time plaintiff slipped and fell on the stairs, as defendants did not have a reasonable amount of time to permit discovery and remediation of the storm-related wet condition … .

Defendants also demonstrated that there were no triable issues of fact as to whether they created the condition or had actual or constructive notice of it. Plaintiff does not maintain that defendants created the hazardous condition. As to notice, plaintiff himself testified that he saw no wet condition or puddles on the stairs when he ascended them approximately 45 minutes before he slipped and fell on the way down; he also testified that only after his fall did he see dirty water on the stairs and small puddles in the lobby … . Therefore, the wet condition could not have existed for more than 45 minutes, which is insufficient to discover and remedy a dangerous condition … . Alvizurez v North State Realty Assoc. LLC, 2026 NY Slip Op 01839, First Dept 3-26-26

Practice Point: Consult this decision for insight into the application of the storm-in-progress doctrine in a slip and fall case.​

Practice Point: Note that a plaintiff’s own testimony can reveal that a defendant did not have constructive notice of the condition which caused plaintiff’s slip and fall.

 

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