The firm is pleased to announce that Managing Partner and Supreme Court Board Certified Mediator, Gerard A. Tuzzio, and Partner, Shannon L. Maribona, successfully obtained summary judgment in favor of their client, a large multi-national retailer, in a premises liability action pending in the Circuit Court of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Hillsborough County, Florida.

In the action, the plaintiff alleged that she slipped and fell in water on the floor while shopping in the home décor section of the retailer’s store. Mr. Tuzzio and Mr. Maribona filed a Motion for Summary Judgment on the basis that there was no evidence that the retailer had actual or constructive knowledge of the water on the floor. In response, the plaintiff argued that spills occurred with regularity and, therefore, the subject slip and fall was foreseeable. In support of her argument, the plaintiff cited to depositions of employees of the store’s cleaning company who testified that they often got called to clean liquid off the floor. However, Mr. Tuzzio and Mr. Maribona pointed out that the area where the subject fall occurred is not an area where liquid is normally found or anticipated to accumulate.

The Court granted summary judgment in favor of our client, stating in the order that water on the floor of the subject store was not foreseeable in the area of the alleged incident. The firm is pleased that it was able to obtain another favorable result for its client and continue its success in defense of premises liability actions.