You are here: / / Defendant Failed to Demonstrate the Cause of Plaintiff’s Fall (a...

Defendant Failed to Demonstrate the Cause of Plaintiff’s Fall (a Ramp Outside a Building) Was Open and Obvious as a Matter of Law—Summary Judgment Should Not Have Been Granted

The Second Department determined the defendant was not entitled to summary judgment in a slip and fall case. The defendant argued the cause of the fall, a ramp outside the defendant’s building, was open and obvious.  The plaintiff alleged the area was not properly lit and the ramp could not be seen:

At about 5:30 p.m. on December 4, 2008, the injured plaintiff allegedly sustained personal injuries when he tripped and fell over a ramp outside a building owned by the defendant. The injured plaintiff testified at his deposition that, at the time of the accident, it was completely dark. He further testified that, as he was walking through the defendant’s parking lot, he did not see the ramp because its color blended into that of the surrounding pavement and because the parking lot was inadequately lit.

A landowner has a duty to maintain his or her property in a reasonably safe manner to prevent foreseeable injuries … . A landlord, however, has no duty to protect or warn against an open and obvious condition that is not inherently dangerous as a matter of law … . To demonstrate entitlement to summary judgment in a trip-and-fall case, the defendant must establish that it maintained the premises in a reasonably safe condition and that it did not create a dangerous or defective condition on the property or have either actual or constructive notice of a dangerous or defective condition for a sufficient length of time to remedy it … .

Here, the defendant failed to establish, prima facie, that the allegedly dangerous condition was open and obvious … . The issue of whether a dangerous condition is open and obvious is fact-specific …, and cannot be divorced from the surrounding circumstances … . Baron v 305-323- E Shore Rd Corp, 2014 NY Slip Op 06932, 2nd Dept 10-15-14

 

You might also like
DEFENDANT PRESENTED SUFFICIENT SPECIFIC FACTS TO REBUT THE PRESUMPTION OF PROPER SERVICE OF THE SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT; A HEARING SHOULD HAVE BEEN HELD (SECOND DEPT). ​
DEFENDANT WAS HOUSED FIVE HOURS AWAY FROM THE COURT AND HIS ATTORNEY, REPEATED REQUESTS TO MOVE DEFENDANT CLOSER WERE GRANTED BUT NOT COMPLIED WITH, DEFENDANT MOVED TO WITHDRAW HIS PLEA AT SENTENCING, GIVEN THE POSSIBILITY DEFENDANT HAD EFFECTIVELY BEEN DEPRIVED OF HIS RIGHT TO COUNSEL, INQUIRY INTO THE VOLUNTARINESS OF OF THE PLEA SHOULD HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED (SECOND DEPT).
DEFENDANT’S EXPERT AFFIDAVIT IN THIS MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION DID NOT ADDRESS SPECIFIC ALLEGATIONS ASSERTED BY PLAINTIFFS; THEREFORE DEFENDANT WAS NOT ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT (SECOND DEPT).
Ornaments Hanging from Rear-View Mirror Justified Vehicle Stop
Provisions in Personnel Handbook Refuted Petitioner’s Allegation that Respondent Failed to Follow the Disciplinary Procedures in the Handbook Prior to Terminating Petitioner/In Addition, Limitations on the Right to Terminate an At-Will Employee Will Not Be Inferred Solely from Policy Manuals or the Existence of an Internal Grievance Procedure
DEFENDANTS IN THIS REAR-END COLLISION CASE WERE ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT; DEFENDANTS’ STOPPED VEHICLE WAS HIT FROM BEHIND AND PUSHED INTO PLANTIFF’S VEHICLE (SECOND DEPT).
IN THIS ACTION SEEKING TO ENFORCE AFFIDAVITS OF CONFESSION OF JUDGMENT, INFORMATION SUBPOENAS ISSUED BY PLAINTIFFS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN QUASHED (SECOND DEPT).
QUESTION OF FACT RAISED UNDER DOCTRINE OF RES IPSA LOQUITUR, PLAINTIFF CONTRACTED HEPATITIS C AFTER COLONOSCOPY.

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

Deliberately-Caused Collision Was Not An Accident from the Standpoint of the... Town’s Duty to Maintain Roadways in a Safe Condition Extends to the Maintenance...