Jacinto v. Cipes

Summary

The New York Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed summary judgment dismissing a personal-injury action arising from the plaintiff’s slip and fall on an outdoor stamped concrete walkway. The court held that the contractors did not launch an instrument of harm or create or exacerbate a dangerous condition, and were entitled to rely on plans and specifications that were not patently defective. The court also concluded that the walkway’s wetness from precipitation, without more, did not establish a dangerous condition.

Holdings

1. Verdi Construction Co., LLC and SJS Concrete Works, LLC were entitled to summary judgment because they demonstrated that they did not launch a force or instrument of harm and did not create or exacerbate a dangerous condition. They also established that they were justified in relying on the plans and specifications because the plans were not so patently defective as to place them on notice that applying the sealant created a danger.
2. The defendants were entitled to summary judgment because the plaintiff's fall occurred solely because the walkway was wet from precipitation; the mere fact that an outdoor walkway becomes wet from precipitation is insufficient to establish a dangerous condition.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the general contractor and subcontractor could be held liable to Jacinto under the contractor-liability rule recognized in Espinal v. Melville Snow Contractors.
2. Whether the defendants established as a matter of law that the walkway was not a dangerous condition merely because it was wet from precipitation.
3. Whether Jacinto raised a triable issue of fact in opposition to the defendants' summary-judgment motions.

Disposition

affirmed