In Friedman v. Martinez, the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, examined a lawsuit brought by over sixty women alleging that a janitor surreptitiously recorded them through hidden equipment placed in an office building restroom. The women brought suit against numerous defendants, including the janitor, building owner, and management company. The defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, seeking to dismiss the claims of thirty-five plaintiffs who did not appear in the approximately eight hours of recordings recovered by police during their investigation. The motion was granted, and the claims of these plaintiffs were dismissed. On appeal, the Appellate Division
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Archives for General Liability
New Jersey Superior Court Finds for Defendants in Slip-and-Fall Case Brought by Trespasser
In Negron v. Warriner’s Construction Co., Inc., the Law Division of the Superior Court of Cumberland County, NJ granted summary judgment to three defendants in a case concerning a slip and fall in a bank parking lot. The plaintiff fell while using the parking lot as a shortcut while walking from a store to his apartment. The plaintiff claimed that he fell on ice that was covered by a light coating of snow that had fallen within 30 minutes of the accident. The motion for summary judgment was filed by three of the four defendants, including the landowner, possessor of
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New Jersey Appellate Division Affirms Defense Verdict in Slip-and-Fall Case
New Jersey Appellate Division Affirms Defense Verdict in Slip-and-Fall Case In Anderocci v. Coach, Inc., the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division reviewed a trial court decision granting summary judgment to the defendants in a slip-and-fall case. The fall occurred in a retail store in a shopping mall. The plaintiff contended that the fall was caused by a slippery floor. The plaintiff supported her claim with an expert opinion concluding that the establishment’s wood floor became slippery due to the use of excessive water in cleaning it. In granting summary judgment for the defendants, the trial court determined that the
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Issues of Fact Preclude Summary Judgment in New York Trip and Fall Case
In Hines v. HSBC Bank USA, Inc., the Wayne County Supreme Court held that a Plaintiff in a trip and fall action provided enough proof of her negligence cause of action to create triable issues if fact that defeated Defendant’s summary judgment motion. The facts in Hines are relatively straightforward. Plaintiff Hines tripped and fell on the sidewalk outside of the HSBC Bank, where she was a regular customer, in what was later determined to be a small depression in the sidewalk. Under New York law, as an owner or possessor of a property open to the public, HSBC had
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New York Court Holds That Questions of Fact Preclude Summary Judgment to Bar in Dram Shop Action
In Tansey v. Coscia, plaintiff brought a negligence action against a bar and other parties as a result of personal injuries sustained from an assault at the bar by another patron, Nicholas Coscia. Plaintiff alleged that the bar was negligent in unlawfully serving alcohol to Coscia because he was an underage and visibly intoxicated person under the Dram Shop Act. The defendant bar moved for summary judgment on the basis that there was no evidence that it unlawfully served alcohol to Coscia. The Supreme Court of Suffolk County examined the factual evidence in the case, including numerous depositions, and concluded
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