Summary Judgment Dismissal

HPM&B recently obtained summary judgment dismissal for our client, a major hospital network, in a slip-and-fall case. Plaintiff alleged that she sustained an injury when she slipped and fell in the PACU of our client’s hospital facility. The defense moved for summary judgment with the support of four hospital witnesses all of which established that there was no dangerous condition in the area at the time of plaintiff’s alleged slip-and-fall. Moreover, the hospital witnesses established that even if the condition existed as alleged by plaintiff, the hospital could not be charged with notice of it given the hospital nursing staff’s adherence to protocol regarding inspections of the floor before and after toileting a patient. The court found that the hospital met its prima facie burden for summary judgment and that in opposition, plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact. The Court dismissed the case in its entirety as to the hospital defendant.