Congratulations to Irvine Partner Cinnamon J. Carr and Associate Brittney H. Aquino for Prevailing on a Motion for Summary Judgment!
Irvine Partner Cinnamon J. Carr and Associate Brittney H. Aquino prevail on summary judgment in a slip and fall case venued in Riverside County!
Plaintiff filed a lawsuit alleging negligence against Kahana Feld’s client, a grocery store with over 50 stores throughout Southern California. Prior to Plaintiff’s fall, security cameras captured footage of a third-party customer picking up a case of water bottles near the entrance of the store. The customer tilted the case and water streamed to the floor. The customer then returned the leaky case to the pallet, picked up another case of water, and walked away. Approximately a minute and 10 seconds later, Plaintiff walked through the area, slipping on the spilled water.
Ms. Carr and Ms. Aquino moved for summary judgment arguing that Plaintiff could not establish either constructive or actual notice of the alleged dangerous condition pursuant to Girvetz v. Boys’ Market, Inc. (1949) 91 Cal.App.2d 827. In Girvetz, the Court held that under the circumstances of the case, one and a half minutes was insufficient to support an inference that the defendant failed to exercise the care required of him. (Id. at p. 831.) Similarly, the Plaintiff in the instant case could not establish that Defendant had actual notice of the water on the floor or that Defendant failed to exercise reasonable in care in discovering and remedying the condition. Ms. Carr and Ms. Aquino submitted substantial uncontested evidence in support of the motion to show there were no triable issues of material fact. The Court agreed, and the summary judgment motion was granted!
Congratulations Cinnamon and Brittney on this terrific result!