Balinda Johnsonv.All Amercian Quality Foods, Inc.
Balinda Johnson slipped and fell in a Food Depot store after a liquid was spilled in an aisle. Security footage showed children carrying drinks and moving through the area shortly before the fall. The trial court granted Food Depot summary judgment, finding that Johnson had not shown the store’s actual or constructive knowledge of the hazard. Sitting as a whole court, the Court of Appeals reversed. The majority held that the timing of the spill, the employees’ inspection evidence, and the video created a jury question about whether the store should have discovered the hazard and whether its inspection procedure was reasonable. The court stressed that a plaintiff need not prove the exact duration of a spill when circumstantial evidence permits a reasonable inference of constructive knowledge. A judge concurred specially, and several judges dissented, reasoning that the proof did not overcome the summary-judgment record.
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