Slip and Fall Complaint Dismissed Where Sole Factual Allegation Was That "There Must Have Been a Substance" Which Caused Plaintiff To Fall

In the case of Staiger v. Weis Markets, Inc., No. 5:21-CV-03709 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 2, 2021 Leeson, J.), the court granted a Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss a Plaintiff’s slip and fall action where the court found that the Plaintiff failed to allege facts that would plausibly support a claim that a dangerous condition was the cause of the Plaintiff’s fall.  Leave to file an Amended Complaint was granted.

According to the Opinion, the Plaintiff allegedly slipped and fall in the supermarket while shopping. The Plaintiff asserted that she believed that some substance on the floor in an aisle of the store caused her to fall.

The court noted that the Plaintiff’s Complaint largely relied upon legal conclusions to suggest the existence of a dangerous condition.

The lone factual allegation found in the Complaint was that “as [the Plaintiff] has no medical conditions, [the Plaintiff] believes and avers that there must have been a substance in the aisle which caused her to fall.”

Judge Joseph F. Leeson
Eastern Federal District Court of PA

Judge Leeson noted that a well-settled maxim of law is that the mere fact that an accident occurred does not give rise to any inference that any injury occurred as a result of any negligence on the part of another person.

Although the Complaint was dismissed, the Plaintiff was granted the opportunity to attempt to file an appropriate Amended Complaint.

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.  The companion Order can be viewed HERE.

Source: “Digest of Recent Opinions.” Pennsylvania Law Weekly (Nov. 23, 2021).

Source of top photo: Photo by Eduardo Soares on Unsplash.com.