Building Lobby Slip and Fall Case Action Reinstated by AD

Slip and Fall case in a lobby of a building, action reinstated

Osbourne v 80-90 Maiden Lane Del, LLC (2013 NY Slip Op 08602)

Decided on December 26, 2013

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

APPELLATE DIVISION : SECOND JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT

2012-04362
(Index No. 8697/09)

[*1]Juliet Osbourne, appellant,

v

80-90 Maiden Lane Del, LLC, et al.,

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the plaintiff appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County dismissing the case. Appellate Division reversed and reinstated the complaint.

The plaintiff alleged that she fell on an accumulation of rainwater in the lobby of a building owned by the defendants. The law is that a defendant [landowner] may be held liable for an injury proximately caused by a dangerous condition created by water, snow, or ice tracked into a building if it either created the hazardous condition, or had actual or constructive notice of the condition and a reasonable time to undertake remedial action.

Here, the Appellate Division found that since the moving defendants failed to present any evidence as to when the subject area was last cleaned or inspected before the plaintiff’s fall, they failed to establish, prima facie, that they did not have constructive notice of the allegedly dangerous. Accordingly, the AD held that the Supreme Court should have denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss.