Summary Judgment Denied in Monroe County Premises Liability Case

In the case of Brown v. Stroud Mall, No. 7599 CIVIL 2013 (C.P. Monroe Co. Aug. 23, 2016 Sibum, J.), the Plaintiff alleged injuries as a result of her foot becoming entangled in what appeared to be a wire strung across a hall of a local mall.   The Plaintiff filed a Complaint for negligence.

The defense filed a Motion for Summary Judgment arguing that the Plaintiff had not established a duty owed to the Plaintiff and/or that the Plaintiff had failed to show actual constructive notice on the wire on the part of the Defendants.  

The Defendants argued that the presence of security staff patrolling the area within an hour of the Plaintiff’s encounter with the wire supported their argument that the wire did not exist for such a period of time that it could have been corrected through the exercise of reasonable care.  

The court denied the Motion for Summary Judgment indicating that the question of whether a landowner had constructive notice of a dangerous condition was an issue to be left to the jury to decide where reasonable minds could differ on the issue.  

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK. 

Source:  “Digest of Recent Opinions” Pennsylvania Law Weekly (May 23, 2017).