McLaughlan v. Waldbaums, Inc.
Cases that cite this one
25 later published cases cite this decision.
- Kohout v. Molloy College (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2009)
- Gonzalez v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (District Court, S.D. New York 2004)
- Gurley v. Rochdale Village, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2016)
- Agosto v. City of New Rochelle (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2014)
- Agosto v. City of New Rochelle (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2014)
- McGrath v. George Weston Bakeries, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2014)
- McGrath v. George Weston Bakeries, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2014)
- Mauge v. Barrow Street Ale House (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2010)
- Chia Yun Tsai v. Duane Reade, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2009)
- Thomas v. Hempstead Union Free School District (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2008)
- Zelaya v. Breger (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2007)
- Onley v. Shopwell, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2005)
- Erikson v. J.I.B. Realty Corp. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2004)
- Sweeney v. D & J Vending, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2002)
- Gloria v. MGM Emerald Enterprises, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2002)
- Simoni v. 2095 Cruger Associates (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2001)
- Golden v. Coinmach Industries, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2000)
- Benn v. Municipal Housing Authority (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2000)
- Osorio v. Wendell Terrace Owners Corp. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2000)
- Gerson v. Brigham Park Cooperative Corp. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2000)
- Hewett v. Conway Stores, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1999)
- Oliveri v. Oliveri (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1998)
- Loguidice v. Fiorito (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1998)
- Howe v. Golub Corp. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1997)
- Cataldo v. Waldbaum, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1997)
This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.
Opinion of the Court
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, etc., the plaintiffs appeal from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Dye, J.), dated March 29, 1996, as granted the motion by the defendant Waldbaum, Inc., sued herein as Waldbaums, Inc., for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.
Ordered that the order is reversed insofar as appealed from, with costs, the motion is denied, and the plaintiff’s complaint is reinstated insofar as asserted against the defendant Waldbaum, Inc., sued herein as Waldbaums, Inc.
The plaintiffs brought the instant action against, inter alia, the defendant Waldbaum, Inc., sued herein as Waldbaums, Inc. (hereinafter Waldbaum), to recover damages for injuries the plaintiff Joanne McLaughlan allegedly sustained while shopping in a supermarket owned by Waldbaum. According to the plaintiffs, Ms. McLaughlan was allegedly injured when numerous bottles of soda fell from a store display and struck her after she had taken a bottle of soda from that display.
Waldbaum moved for summary judgment on the ground that it did not have notice of the allegedly defective condition which caused Ms. McLaughlan’s injuries, and the Supreme Court granted the motion on this basis. We reverse.
In order to establish a prima facie case of negligence in cases such as the instant one, "the plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant created the condition which caused the accident, or that the defendant had actual or constructive notice of the condition” (Bykofsky v Waldbaum’s Supermarkets, 210 AD2d 280, 281). In the instant case, a Waldbaum employee testified, inter alia, that the subject display would become "tipsy” or "wobbly” when customers took bottles from the bottom of the display, occasionally causing other bottles higher up on the display to fall. Such testimony raised a triable issue of fact as to whether Waldbaum had actual knowledge of a recurrent dangerous condition with respect to that display, and therefore, whether it could be charged with constructive notice of each specific reoccurrence of the condition (Chin v Harp Mktg. Corp., 232 AD2d 601; see, Hirschman v City of New York, 193 AD2d 581; Padula v Big V Supermarkets, 173 AD2d 1094). Further, Waldbaum’s knowledge that bottles were prone to fall from the subject display "is qualitatively different from a mere 'general awareness’ that a dangerous condition may be present (cf., Piacquadio v Recine Realty Corp., 84 NY2d 967)” (Chin v Harp Mktg. Corp., supra, at 602). Bracken, J. P., O’Brien, Santucci, Friedmann and Goldstein, JJ., concur.
Case-law data current through September 30, 2026. Source: CourtListener bulk data.