Abdelmessih v Costco Wholesale
Annotate this CaseDecided on July 2, 2010
Supreme Court, Richmond County
Michael Abdelmessih, Plaintiff,
against
Costco Wholesale, Defendant.
102314/08
Philip G. Minardo, J.
Defendant COSTCO WHOLESALE moves for summary judgment
dismissing the complaint pursuant to CPLR § 3212.
Plaintiff MICHAEL ABDELMESSIH commenced this action to recover damages
for injuries sustained as a result of an accident that occurred on May 9, 2007 on the premises of
the defendant COSTCO WHOLESALE. Plaintiff contends that as he removed a drill case from
a pallet, multiple drill cases fell, one of which struck plaintiff's foot causing injuries. Plaintiff
MICHAEL ABDELMESSIH argues both that the drill cases were stacked too high and that they
were stacked in an unsafe manner.
As a result of the incident, plaintiff allegedly sustained, inter alia, trigonum of the
right foot, partial intrasubstance meniscal tear involving the posterior horn of the medial
meniscus of the left knee, and suprapatella effusion extending into the joint space of the left
knee. He also claims that the foregoing injuries directly affected the bones, tendons, tissues,
muscles, ligaments, nerves, blood vessels and soft tissues in and about the involved areas and
sympathetic and radiating pains. Plaintiff also claims that all of the above injuries, with the
exception of contusions, are permanent.
In moving for summary judgment, defendant COSTCO WHOLESALE contends that
the plaintiff has not established the existence of a dangerous or unsafe condition that caused the
accident and/or if there was a dangerous or unsafe condition that defendant COSTCO
WHOLESALE had no notice of such a condition nor did the defendant have an opportunity to
correct it. Further, defendant contends that it did not have exclusive control over an alleged
unsafe condition because the defendant's employees do not stack the drill cases. Defendant
points to the testimony of COSTCO WHOLESALE employee Joanne Marachilian, who testified
that the cases arrive at the store already stacked and the defendant simply places the entire stack
atop a wooden pallet. With regard to prior notice of the condition, the defendant argues that no
COSTCO WHOLESALE employees were in the aisle with the plaintiff at the time of the
accident. Moreover, defendant COSTCO WHOLESALE submits the "Costco Wholesale
Floorwalk Checklist" (Exhibit K), which outlines hourly inspections of the areas of the store as
well as a photograph of the drill cases, which does not reveal an unsafe or dangerous condition.
In sum, it is defendant's contention that it did not create an unsafe or dangerous condition. If
such a condition existed, it is defendant's contention that it did not have any actual or
constructive notice of it.
In opposition, plaintiff MICHAEL ABDELMESSIH, testified at his examination
before trial that an unknown COSTCO WHOLESALE employee who came to the scene told him
that [*2]the drill boxes fell because one of the cases on the
bottom was stacked incorrectly. However, defendant argues that the foregoing is inadmissible
hearsay because said unknown employee has not himself testified, nor did this unknown
COSTCO WHOLESALE employee have authority of his or her employer to make such a
statement.
It is well settled that landowners owe patrons the "duty of reasonable care under the
circumstances to maintain their property in a safe condition." (See Maheshwari v. City of
New York, et al., 2 NY3d 288, 294 [2004]). Where there is not enough evidence to prove
that a store created a dangerous condition, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant had actual
or constructive notice of the condition. (Ruggiero v. Waldbaums Supermarkets, 242
AD2d 268 [2d Dep't 1997] (granting summary judgment to defendant supermarket when plaintiff
customer could not prove that display of juice cans was stacked "lopsided"). Summary judgment
may be granted where there is no direct evidence that the defendant created a condition and no
sufficient circumstantial evidence to infer that the defendant otherwise had actual or constructive
notice of a hazardous condition. (Rosado v. Home Depot, 4 AD2d 268 [2d Dep't 1997]).
General awareness that conditions may sometimes arise is insufficient to impute constructive
notice on the defendant. (Berzon v.
D'Agostino Supermarkets, Inc., 15 AD3d 600 [2d Dep't 2005];Perlongo v. Park City
3 & 4 Apts., Inc., 2006 NY Slip Op 5342 [2d Dep't 2006]).
An employee must have the authority to speak on behalf of his employer in order for
an alleged statement to be binding on the employer. (Tyrrell v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.,
97 NY2d 650 [2001]). An employee has the authority to speak on behalf of his employer if the
employee made the statement within the scope of the agent's authority, and the statement is made
in the course of business or transaction for which the agent is employed. (Candela v. City of New York, 8 AD3d
45 [1st Dep't 2004]). Plaintiff's contentions that an unidentified employee made statements
about an alleged condition are insufficient to raise a triable issue of fact. (Oddo v. Edo Mar. Air, 34 AD3d
774 [2d Dep't 2006]). "Pursuant to this rule, the hearsay statement of
an agent is admissible against his employer under the admissions exception to the
hearsay rule only if the making of the statement is an activity within the scope of his authority
(Loschiavo v. Port Auth. of NY & N.J., 58 NY2d 1040, 1041 [1983] citing Kelly v.
Diesel Constr. Div. of Carl A. Morse, Inc., 35 NY2d 1, 8 [1974]; Spett v. President
Monroe Bldg. & Mfg. Corp., 19 NY2d 203, 206 [1967]).
Here, defendant COSTCO WHOLESALE is a large service store whose items are generally
accessible to the public. The defendant indicates that store items come from the manufacturer
already stacked and atop the wooden pallet. While the EBT testimony of the plaintiff indicates
that a drill case on the bottom of the stack was pushed farther back than the rest of the cases,
there is no evidence that defendant COSTCO WHOLESALE had actual or constructive notice
that a drill box was improperly stacked. COSTCO WHOLESALE employee Joanne Marachilian
testified that employees perform hourly checks of the entire store, which are then marked on the
"Costco Wholesale Floorwalk Checklist." The checklist reveals that inspections of the aisle
containing drill cases were performed at every hour on May 9, 2007, and
no unsafe or dangerous conditions were noted. Similarly, in her EBT testimony,
Joanne Marachilian indicated that she took a photograph of the stack of drill cases at the time of
the accident. The photograph taken at the time of the accident does not reveal that the drill cases
were stacked in an unsafe manner. Ms. Marachilian also testifies that no other COSTCO
WHOLESALE employees restacked or moved the drills depicted in the photograph. Moreover,
plaintiff's statement that the unknown COSTCO WHOLESALE employee said that the cases fell
onto the plaintiff because they [*3]were improperly stacked is
inadmissible because it is hearsay and was made without the authority of the employer.
Accordingly, since the defendant COSTCO WHOLESALE has met its initial burden
of showing lack of negligence and the plaintiff has failed to raise an issue of fact as to whether
defendant created the condition or had actual or constructive notice of an unsafe or dangerous
condition, the defendant's motion for summary judgment is granted and the complaint is
dismissed.
This shall constitute the decision and order of the court.
ENTER
Dated: July 2, 2010 s/ Philip G. Minardo
J.S.C
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