London Fischer LLP congratulates Anthony F. Tagliagambe and Brian A. Kalman on their victory in the case of Meza v. Consolidated Edison Company of New York, in which the Appellate Division, First Department unanimously affirmed the trial court decision and dismissed with prejudice plaintiff’s claims against the defendants.
Meza involved allegations of a slip and fall accident that occurred in the lobby of a Consolidated Edison Company of New York building. In the complaint, plaintiff alleged that she sustained significant injuries when she slipped on pooled water on the defendants’ lobby floor. Plaintiff conceded, however, that a winter snow storm was in progress at the time of the accident. Plaintiff alleged that the defendants had insufficient mats on the lobby floor, insufficient warning signs regarding the wet floors; and had an insufficient number of people mopping the lobby floors.
Attorneys Anthony F. Tagliagambe and Brian A. Kalman filed a motion for summary judgment in Supreme Court, Bronx County. The trial court granted defendants’ motion and dismissed the claims against the defendants and held that the sufficiency of the mats, warning signs and people mopping were reasonable as a matter of law based upon the fact that a winter storm was in progress and that the water was tracked in from outside.
The Appellate Division embraced our arguments regarding the need to dismiss plaintiff’s claims based upon the “storm in progress doctrine” and specifically held that:“Defendants had no obligation to maintain a constantly dry floor during a snowstorm (see, Solazzo v. New York City Tr. Auth., 21 AD3d 735 [2005]. Nor were they required to cover the entire floor with mats Garcia v. Delgado Travel Agency, 4 AD3d 204 [2004]).”
London Fischer LLP applauds the efforts of Mr. Tagliagambe and Mr. Kalman on behalf of our client.