BERTHA ALTMAN AND GEORGE WASHINGTON ALTMAN, HER HUSBAND, APPELLANTS,
v.
PUBLIX SUPERMARKETS, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEE
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The court held that the patron's testimony was sufficient to create a fact question regarding the supermarket's constructive notice of a dangerous condition.
Bertha Altman slipped and fell on a wet, oily, and dirty substance inside a Publix supermarket. Her deposition testimony described the floor as litter…
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PER CURIAM.
A patron injured in a slip and fall appeals from a summary judgment entered in favor of the defendant supermarket. We reverse.
Bertha Altman slipped and fell as she entered a Publix supermarket. According to her deposition testimony, Altman lost her footing and landed in a wet substance that smelled like cooking oil. She testified that the floor was very dirty and oily; that cigarette butts and candy wrappers littered the floor; and that grocery cart tracks and footprints traversed the dirty area where she fell.
We agree with the appellant that her testimony was sufficient evidence to present a fact question as to whether a dangerous condition was created by the store’s employees, Grayson v. Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc., 576 So. 2d 417 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991), and whether the dangerous condition on the floor existed for a sufficient length of time to charge the defendant with constructive notice. Proof that a dangerous condition existed long enough so that it should have been discovered by the defendant may, like any other fact, be established by circumstantial evidence. Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. v. Williams, 264 So. 2d 862 (Fla. 3d DCA 1972); see also Skipper v. Barnes Supermarket, 573 So. 2d 411 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991) (indicia of constructive notice includes evidence of cart tracks and footprints); Winn Dixie Stores, Inc. v. Guenther, 395 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981) (testimony that liquid was dirty and scuffed, with tracks running through it, sufficient to impute constructive notice of a dangerous condition).
Accordingly, the summary judgment in favor of the supermarket is reversed and the case is remanded.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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Woods v. Winn Dixie Stores, Inc., 621 So. 2d 710 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993)…and Maintenance Service, Inc. v. Palmieri, 559 So. 2d 74 (Fla. 3d DCA), review denied, 574 So. 2d 142 (Fla.1990). The length of time that the condition existed can be proved by circumstantial evidence. See, e.g., Altman v. Publix Supermarkets, Inc., 579 So. 2d 351 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991); Winn Dixie Stores, Inc. v. Williams, 264 So. 2d 862 (Fla. 3d DCA 1972). Testimony of dirt, scuffing, or tracks in a substance generates sufficient inferences of constructive notice. See, e.g., Winn Dixie Stores, Inc. v. Guenther…
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Cisneros v. Costco Wholesale Corp., 754 So. 2d 819 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000)…on existed for such a length of time that, in exercise of ordinary care, the defendant should have known of the condition.” Burnett v. Lower Fla. Keys Health Sys., Inc., 722 So. 2d 951, 951 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998). In Altman v. Publix Supermarkets, Inc., 579 So. 2d 351 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991), the plaintiff slipped and fell at the supermarket. She testified that the floor was dirty, oily and garbage strewn. Additionally, she said that “grocery cart tracks and footprints traversed the dirty area where she fell.” Id. at…
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Fairbanks v. Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., 673 So. 2d 526 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)…eal an order granting Winn-Dixie’s motion for summary judgment in a negligence action which arose out of a slip and fall accident. We reverse because we find the existence of disputed issues of material fact. See Altman v. Publix Supermarkets, Inc., 579 So. 2d 351 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991); Schaap v. Publix Supermarkets, Inc., 579 So. 2d 831 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991). REVERSED and REMANDED. DAUKSCH, W. SHARP and THOMPSON, JJ., concur.…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Winn Dixie Stores, Inc. v. Williams, 264 So. 2d 862 (Fla. 3d DCA 1972)
- Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. v. Guenther, 395 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)
- Skipper v. Barnes Supermarket, 573 So. 2d 411 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)
- Rolf Grayson and Myra Grayson v. Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc., 576 So. 2d 417 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)