Target Store Not Liable in Drip-and-Slip Case

A Target store store in Irondequoit, New York is not responsible for an injury claim brought by a customer who slipped and fell on a puddle on the floor because its employees were not aware of the hazard and, even if they were, the hazard was only there for 10 minutes, which was not enough time for them to remedy the condition.

The puddle had been created by another customer’s dripping umbrella about 10 minutes before Ceclia Lopez slipped and fell on it and injured her knee. Lopez claimed that Target could be inferred to have been given notice because an employee had been speaking with the customer with the umbrella.

However, the federal district court for western New York found that video evidence showed neither that interacting employee nor others in the store observed the dripping from the umbrella onto the floor. Also several people— including Lopez herself— walked by the same spot without observing the water or slipping prior to her accident.

Lopez failed to show that the employee saw the actual hazard and not just the “alleged source of the hazard.” Thus the store did not have notice of the condition. The court agreed with Target that Lopez did not show that the wet condition of the floor was visible and apparent prior to her fall.

Furthermore, the court found, the time between the umbrella dripping and the plaintiff slipping was a mere 10 minutes, which the court said was not enough time for Target to remedy the condition even if it had known about it. “Ten minutes does not constitute an appreciable period of time,” the court stated.

“[T]here is nothing from which a reasonable fact finder may infer that Defendant was aware of the condition prior to the accident, nor that Defendant was aware of the condition with sufficient time to remedy the condition as is required to find constructive notice,” the court concluded in dismissing the claim against the retailer.