Partner, Jacqueline Berger and Of Counsel, Gregory Cascino were successful in obtaining dismissal of the Complaint in a slip and fall case at a Hospital. In the case, plaintiff, who was admitted as part of the Hospital’s Chemical Dependency Unit, slipped and fell in front of the nursing station at approximately 9:15 a.m., allegedly causing permanent injury. The plaintiff testified at her deposition that she saw no substance on the floor before she fell, but assumed later it was water she slipped on, as her pants were wet.
We moved for summary judgment dismissal on the basis that the Hospital did not cause the condition, and had no actual or constructive notice of the condition. In support of the motion, we submitted documentation of environmental rounds performed by two staff members that morning at 7:30 a.m., which did not document any hazards. We further submitted affidavits from those two staff members, further establishing the Hospital could not have created the condition nor could it have had actual or constructive notice of a hazardous condition.
The court agreed that we had established our prima facie case of entitlement to summary judgment sufficient to eliminate any issues of fact in the case that the Hospital had neither created, nor had notice of the alleged dangerous condition at the time of the incident. The court found in opposition, that plaintiff failed to raise any issues of fact as to defendant’s notice, and dismissed the case in its entirety on liability.