LANSING, Mich. (Legal Newsline) - A woman who slipped and fell in a Red Lobster on what she described as a “greasy, oily” patch on the floor can sue the chain for negligence, a Michigan court ruled, despite the fact an employee said she immediately responded to the report of a spill.
Plaintiff Sheila Gray had the presence of mind after her fall to walk out of the Novi, Mich. restaurant and then return to shoot a grainy photo of the area outside of the ladies’ room, which she said proved the restaurant hadn’t placed warning signs on the floor before she slipped.
A trial judge dismissed her case for lack of evidence Red Lobster knew of the hazardous condition of the floor before she fell, but a two-judge majority on the Michigan Court of Appeals disagreed. In a July 14 opinion, judges Douglas B. Shapiro and Sima G. Pate ruled that a genuine question of fact existed over whether Red Lobster had notice of the greasy floor in time to establish a duty to protect Gray against falling.
The judges relied on Gray’s photo and an unsworn affidavit from a Red Lobster employee, who said she “right away put down 4 caution wet floor signs” by the restrooms after being told by an unnamed customer the floors were slippery.
“A little more before I could complete The [sic] drying of floor I was informed that a customer had a slip and fall,” the employee said.
“Viewing the evidence In the light most favorable to Gray, reasonable minds could conclude that Red Lobster failed to take adequate precautions to protect its patrons from the dangerous condition presented by the `greasy, oily’ floor,” the judges concluded.
Judge Jane Markey dissented, saying she was “more than puzzled” at the majority’s decision that the plaintiff could rely on the employee’s “poorly written and confusing” unsworn statement. Gray’s photo didn’t show any warning signs but they might well have been outside camera range, the judge wrote.
“Gray’s own deposition testimony, filings, and argument at oral argument were alternatingly either contradictory, ambiguous, or reflected lack of recall,” the judge went on. “Ironically, all of her unclear testimony, etc., did easily establish that there was no genuine issue that Red Lobster employees immediately attended to the area where she claimed to have fallen as Gray herself noted and proved with her testimony and her photo showing the cleaning bucket and mop in the area minutes after her fall.”