The Appellate Division reversed the Order which granted defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, and denied the motion. In this action where plaintiff alleges that she slipped and fell on grease as she descended the stairs in defendant's building, defendant failed to establish its prima facie entitlement to summary judgment. Defendant did not demonstrate that it lacked constructive notice of the grease, as it failed to show when the stairwell was last cleaned or inspected. Proof of a regular maintenance schedule does not suffice for the purpose of showing that it was followed, and since the superintendent was due to clean the hallways and stairs on the day of the accident, plaintiff's observation of debris on the stairs shows that no such maintenance was done prior to her fall. Because defendant did not meet its initial burden of showing, as a matter of law, that it lacked constructive notice of the alleged defective condition, the burden never shifted to plaintiff to demonstrate how long the condition existed.
White v. MP 40 Realty Mgt. LLC, NY Slip Op 05838 (1st Dep't October 15, 2020)
