The Second Department denied defendant's summary judgment motion in an action to recover damages for injuries allegedly sustained as a result of a fall caused by a puddle of soapy water in an aisle of defendant's store, in Granera v. 32nd Street 99¢ Corp., which was decided on December 18, 2007.

The court noted that defendant met its initial burden of making a prima facie showing that it neither created the hazardous condition nor had actual or constructive notice of its existence for a sufficient length of time to discover and remedy it. However, in opposition, plaintiff offered her deposition testimony that it was neither snowing nor raining on the day of the accident, and that,immediately after she fell, she saw an employee with a mop and a bucket standing a couple of aisles away. There also was deposition testimony from the store manager that, after the accident, he too saw "two clean-up individuals" with buckets and mops "by the cashier." The court found this evidence sufficient to raise an issue of fact as to whether defendant may have created the condition which proximately caused plaintiff's injury.