Mere reference to defendant’s maintenance policy, without more, does not preclude entry of summary judgment in favor of a defendant

The Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld summary judgment in this slip and fall case because the record contained no evidence to indicate the period of time the spill existed on the floor. The court addressed the plaintiff’s argument that the condition could have existed for a long period of time because the defendant deviated from its policy to perform regular maintenance sweeps and inspections. The Superior Court held that mere reference to the existence of the defendant’s maintenance policy without further circumstantial evidence to infer that the store’s employees deviated from the policy does not raise any issue of fact that precluded the entry of summary judgment in favor of the defendant. However, the court was careful to note that an open issue of spoliation, based on the absence of a maintenance record, precluded entry of summary judgment. The court referenced its decision in Rodriguez v. Kravco Simon Co., 111 A.3d 1191 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2015), holding that an issue of spoliation based on the absence of a maintenance log, even if not formally before the court, precluded entry of summary judgment in favor of the defendant where the plaintiff presented evidence that maintenance contractors were responsible for sweeping and spot-mopping the floors on an hourly basis. As spoliation is a recurring issue in Pennsylvania courts, the Boukassi opinion notes that a question of spoliation precludes the entry of summary judgment in favor of a defendant. In contrast, a plaintiff’s mere reference to a defendant’s maintenance policy, without more, does not preclude entry of summary judgment in favor of a defendant. 

_{Case Law Alerts, 4th Quarter, October 2019}

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