Practice point: Defendant failed to establish entitlement to judgment as a matter of
law in this action where plaintiff alleges that she was injured when,
while descending the interior stairs of defendant's building, she
slipped on a wet step and fell. Defendant's maintenance caretaker's affidavit contradicted his deposition testimony as to
whether he could recall the building in the housing complex he had been
assigned to clean on the date in question, and was insufficient to
establish a prima facie case for summary judgment
In any event, the Appellate Division found in the record triable issues as to whether defendant created the wet stair
condition. Plaintiff testified that she observed water on the
stairs, that the water had dampened her back and pants in the process of
her fall and that the staircase smelled like it had recently been
cleaned. In addition, the building's janitorial schedule indicated that
the subject staircase was to be mopped shortly before plaintiff's fall,
and the caretaker testified that he would have mopped the staircase
around the time of the accident.
Student note: Evidence of defendant's general cleaning and inspection procedures does not not
constitute probative evidence of the procedures actually performed on
the day of the accident.
Case: Tucker v New York City Hous. Auth., NY Slip Op 03453 (1st Dept. 2015)
Here is the decision.
Tomorrow's issue: Post-termination commissions.
