Summary
This Appellate Division decision reviews a trial court's grant of summary judgment dismissing a premises liability complaint brought by a plaintiff who alleged she tripped and fell while exiting a building. The appellate court affirmed the dismissal, concluding that the plaintiff failed to identify the cause of her fall without speculation, thereby failing to establish proximate cause or notice of a dangerous condition. Although the trial court improvidently exercised its discretion regarding procedural defaults in the opposition papers, the plaintiffs' expert affidavit remained conclusory and failed to raise a triable issue of fact.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the plaintiff’s inability to identify the cause of her fall precludes a premises‑liability claim and warrants summary judgment.
Holdings
- Summary judgment was proper because the plaintiff could not identify the cause of her fall without speculation, and the defendants established that they neither created nor had notice of the alleged dangerous condition.
Key quotations
“"In a premises liability case, a defendant ordinarily establishes its entitlement to summary judgment by showing that it neither created the allegedly dangerous or defective condition nor had actual or constructive notice of its existence. However, a defendant can make its prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by establishing that the plaintiff cannot identify the cause of his or her fall without engaging in speculation"” (at 1209)
Factual background
The plaintiff, Linda Abramowitz, tripped and fell from a single-step riser while exiting a building owned by S & D Realty of NY, Inc., where the defendant Stephen P. Esposito, M.D., P.C. was a tenant. She sustained personal injuries and sued the owners and tenant.
Procedural history
The Supreme Court, Queens County entered an order on November 18, 2021 granting the defendants' motion for summary judgment. The plaintiffs appealed that order to the Appellate Division, Second Department.