Rhee v. Apple, Inc.

Summary

The Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed the denial of Apple, Inc. and related defendants’ motion for summary judgment in a personal-injury trip-and-fall action. The court held that the defendants failed to establish that the collapsed cardboard boxes were not an inherently dangerous condition, that Apple did not create the condition, or that the property owner satisfied its sidewalk-maintenance obligation.

Holdings

1. Defendants were not entitled to summary judgment because they failed to establish that the collapsed cardboard boxes were not an inherently dangerous tripping hazard or that the condition could not fairly be attributed to defendants' negligence or negligent maintenance.
2. Defendants failed to establish that Apple did not create the condition because they submitted no evidence concerning Apple's garbage disposal on the day of the accident and no custom-and-practice evidence from which lack of negligence could be inferred.
3. Redbridge failed to establish that it satisfied its obligation under Administrative Code of the City of New York § 7-210 because defendants submitted no evidence showing when the sidewalk was last cleaned or inspected.

Questions Presented

1. Whether defendants established prima facie entitlement to summary judgment by showing that the sidewalk condition was open and obvious and not inherently dangerous.
2. Whether defendants established that Apple did not create the hazardous condition through its garbage-disposal practices.
3. Whether Redbridge established that it satisfied its duty under Administrative Code of the City of New York § 7-210 to maintain the sidewalk in a reasonably safe condition.

Disposition

affirmed