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DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED, ISSUE THAT WAS ADDRESSED BY THE DEFENDANT IN ITS REPLY PAPERS AND THE JUDGE IS PRESERVED FOR APPEAL, COMPLIANCE WITH REGULATIONS IS NOT DISPOSITIVE ON THE ISSUE OF NEGLIGENCE (FOURTH DEPT). ​

The Fourth Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendant’s motion for summary judgment in this slip and fall case should not have been granted. Plaintiff tripped over a wheelchair scale in a hallway of defendant’s nursing home. The Fourth Department noted that the issue was preserved for appeal despite the absence from the record of the memorandum which raised the issue. The issue was addressed in defendant’s reply papers and noted in the court’s written decision. The Fourth Department held that the scale was not an open and obvious hazard as a matter of law and the fact that the scale was alleged to have been in compliance with the National Fire Prevention Associations’s Life Safety Code would not be dispositive on the issue of negligence:

… [P]laintiff’s contention that defendant failed to meet its initial burden on its motion for summary judgment is properly before us inasmuch as it involves a “question of law appearing on the face of the record . . . [that] could not have been avoided by the opposing party if brought to that party’s attention in a timely manner” … . …

… [T]he facts here simply do not warrant concluding as a matter of law that the [wheelchair scale] was so obvious that it would necessarily be noticed by any careful observer, so as to make any warning superfluous’ ” and to support a conclusion that it was not a hazard as a matter of law … . …

Defendant also did not meet its initial burden on the motion by submitting the deposition testimony of one of its employees, who opined that the wheelchair scale was in compliance with the National Fire Prevention Association’s Life Safety Code, 2000 Edition (Code). Even assuming, arguendo, that defendant’s employee was qualified to render an opinion concerning defendant’s compliance with the Code … , we conclude that defendant is not entitled to summary judgment because it is well settled that “compliance with regulations or a building code is not dispositive on the issue of negligence” … . Rivera v Rochester Gen. Health Sys., 2019 NY Slip Op 04835, Fourth Dept 6-14-19

 

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