Summary Judgment Granted in Trip and Fall Case Due to Lack of Evidence of Actual or Constructive Knowledge

In the case of Hendershot v. Wal-Mart, Inc., No. 5:21-CV-02422-JMG (E.D. Pa. July 11, 2022 Gallagher, J.), the court granted summary judgment in favor of the Defendant in a slip and fall case.

According to the Opinion, the Plaintiff asserted that she tripped and fell on a rolled up mat in the entryway of the Wal-Mart store.  At her deposition the Plaintiff admitted that she could only speculate as to how the mat became in a rolled up state.  The Plaintiff also admitted that she could not testify as to how long the mat had been in that condition before she encountered it.   

The court noted that the record did not establish that the Defendant had any actual or constructive notice of any alleged condition that allegedly caused the Plaintiff to fall. Moreover, the court stated that there was no evidence presented by the Plaintiff that the Defendant was responsible for the alleged condition that allegedly caused the Plaintiff to fall.

The court additionally found that the lack of any evidence that the condition was a recurring one precluded any finding of actual notice on the part of the Defendant. 

It was also emphasized by the Court that the Plaintiff had not presented any evidence of the passage of time that was sufficient to support a claim of constructive notice on the part of the Defendant.

As such, summary judgment was granted in favor of the Defendant.

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I send thanks to Attorney James M. Beck of the Philadelphia office of the Reed Smith law firm for bringing this case to my attention.