Fourth Department – Premises liability: Evans v. Old Forge Properties Inc.

New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department

Premises liability

Constructive notice – Single prior incident

Evans v. Old Forge Properties Inc.

CA 21-01211

Appealed from Supreme Court, Onondaga County

Background: The plaintiffs commenced a negligence action to recover damages for injuries sustained by the plaintiff after he rode down a water slide at an amusement park. The plaintiffs appealed from the grant of summary judgment to the defendants.

Ruling: The Appellate Division affirmed. The court held that the defendants satisfied their burden establishing that they did not create the alleged dangerous condition and did not have actual or constructive notice of it. The court also held that, while there had been an accident on the water slide a year prior to the plaintiff’s accident, that single prior incident is insufficient to put the defendants on notice of a purported recurrent dangerous condition with respect to the water slide.

Robert P. Hamilton Jr., of HoganWillig, for the plaintiffs-appellants; James J. Nash, of Nash Connors, for the defendants-respondents.

Oral argument video