HM&B Obtains Final Summary Judgment for a Big Box Retailer in Slip and Fall in Rainwater Case

Providencia De Figueras v. Wal-Mart Stores East, LP, Case No. 8:21-cv-00870-SCB-CPT (In the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division June 2022)

Plaintiff, Providencia De Figueras, alleged she slipped on rainwater on the approximately six-inch area of the floor that was not protected by a mat in the entranceway of a Walmart store in Tampa, Florida. As a result, Plaintiff alleged over $330,000 in past medical bills after undergoing multiple injections, and a multi-level fusion in her cervical spine. Following the close of discovery, Walmart filed a Motion for Summary Judgment arguing that Plaintiff failed to establish that Walmart had actual or constructive notice of the condition on which Plaintiff slipped. The Middle District of Florida entered final summary judgment in Walmart’s favor after agreeing that there was no genuine issue of material fact as to Walmart’s actual or constructive knowledge of the rainwater on the floor where Plaintiff slipped. The Court agreed there was no evidence that Walmart had actual notice of rainwater in the entranceway or that similar accidents happened with such regularity that the condition was foreseeable. As such, they focused their analysis on constructive notice. Viewing the entire record in a light most favorable to Plaintiff, the Court found that Plaintiff has failed to produce any evidence that the rainwater remained on the floor for such a length of time that Defendant should have known of its existence. Specifically, the CCTV footage does not depict any rainwater visible where the slip occurred. Furthermore, CCTV shows, in the one hour before Plaintiff’s slip, store employees are seen routinely mopping the floor, and at least twenty-five people enter or exit the store without incident. HM&B Partners Michael Dono and Shaina M. Druker obtained the order granting summary judgment.