Orlando Associate Asma Patel recently secured summary judgment in a slip and fall case.
The Plaintiff slipped in water in the cosmetics aisle of our client's store. She claimed injuries to her neck, right shoulder, low back and right knee, including protrusions in her low back and a right knee meniscal tear. While the Plaintiff acknowledged the liquid was clear and she did not know how long the liquid had been on the floor, store video showed a child dropping a cup on the floor approximately 17 minutes before the Plaintiff's fall and Plaintiff's counsel focused their argument heavily on this issue, stating this was a sufficient amount of time to establish constructive notice against our client.
The Court agreed with us, however, that it would need to speculate the child dropping the cup was the source of the substance and also noted the video showed multiple customers walking through the area, without issue, before the Plaintiff's fall. The Court ultimately ruled the Plaintiff failed to present the necessary evidence, including a "plus" factor, to support a finding our client had constructive notice of the liquid.
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