One of the most frustrating types of slip and fall case is one involving a vendor. Typically it’s a vendor delivering product to the business and he slips and falls on something on the floor of the back room. Not only is proving there was no constructive notice more difficult in this type of case but there is typically a ridiculously large workers’ compensation lien that prevents any chance of a reasonable settlement.
Well I’m happy to report there was a win for the good guy – that being myself and my client. Summary judgment was recently granted for a defendant retailer in Cook County (of all places) where a vendor delivery man claimed he slipped and fell on a lone strawberry in the back receiving area.
This was one of those cases where you think you know what happened but once you depose the plaintiff the case is completely different than you originally thought. The case started as a slip and fall on a piece of fruit in the back room. After the plaintiff was deposed, it was learned the plaintiff went off the open path through the back room, intentionally stepped over an empty pallet and that is when he allegedly slipped on a strawberry that was next to the pallet. It was an odd set of facts but things were looking brighter once the plaintiff admitted he had room to push his delivery down the path but instead decided to walk off the path and over a pallet.
The court granted summary judgment because the alleged defective condition was the strawberry, not the pallet. The plaintiff and store employees testified the path was clear and open and the plaintiff did not encounter the strawberry until he stepped off the path. The strawberry was clearly not in open sight because no one saw it before the incident and the employees regularly inspected the back room. Therefore, the employee did not have constructive notice of the strawberry and summary judgment was granted. An appeal was not filed.
A copy of the opinion is attached for your reading pleasure.