Litigation attorney Allen S. Theweny recently prevailed on a summary judgment motion on behalf of a national retail client in a premises liability action in Riverside County Superior Court.
Plaintiff brought suit against the Defendant for premises liability and general negligence, after she allegedly slipped on a clear liquid substance in the hair products aisle, within the Defendant’s premises. Plaintiff claimed severe injuries to her back, neck, right leg, and hip as a result of the slip-and-fall incident and asserted that the Defendant had failed to monitor or inspect the area, despite it being a heavily trafficked aisle.
Video footage of the incident area demonstrated that other customers walked through the aisle, passing over the area several times without issue in the hour prior to the Plaintiff’s fall. Video also demonstrated that a store employee walked through that same area 15 minutes prior to the incident, without any issues. Defendant argued that an unknown customer had spilled the liquid approximately three minutes prior to Plaintiff’s fall and that Defendant did not have a reasonable opportunity to inspect the area. Defendant argued that Plaintiff could not establish that Defendant had either constructive nor actual notice of the liquid on the floor and that Defendant had adequate inspection policies and procedures in place at the time of incident. Plaintiff was unable to create a triable issue of material fact. The district court agreed with the Defendant and granted its summary judgment motion in favor of the Defendant and dismissed the Plaintiff’s case with prejudice.