Powers v. State of New York

Summary

The Appellate Division, Third Department, reversed a Court of Claims judgment dismissing Patrick Powers's slip-and-fall claim arising from untreated ice at Woodbourne Correctional Facility. The majority held that the State had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition, failed to maintain the parking area safely, and could not invoke the storm in progress doctrine. The court granted judgment for claimant on liability and remitted the matter for a damages trial, while Clark, J.P., dissented.

Holdings

1. The State failed to maintain the parking lot in a reasonably safe condition because it had actual notice, and alternatively constructive notice, of the icy condition, failed to sand or salt the location, and that failure proximately caused claimant's injuries.
2. The storm in progress doctrine did not apply because the evidence showed only intermittent pockets of freezing rain that had ended, producing a limited glaze of ice rather than an ongoing hazardous storm with appreciable accumulation.
3. Because the State presented no evidence that claimant was at fault, no apportionment issue required remittal, and the matter was remitted for a trial on damages only.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the State had actual or constructive notice of the icy condition and failed to take reasonable measures to maintain the parking area in a reasonably safe condition.
2. Whether the storm in progress doctrine relieved the State of liability.
3. Whether the evidence warranted reversal of the liability judgment and remittal for a trial on damages.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded