PREMISES LIABILITY: Supermarket obtains summary judgment in premises liability case due to plaintiff’s failure to establish notice

The plaintiff, Alessie, was waiting in the bakery section when another customer, operating a motorized scooter, struck the right leg of the plaintiff, causing him to do a belly flop on the floor, which resulted in injuries. The plaintiff filed suit against defendant, Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., for negligence, arguing that the narrowing of the aisles was the direct cause of this accident. The defendant moved for summary judgment arguing that there was no defect in their premises, and even if there was, Stop & Shop was not on notice of that defect. The defendant further argued that there is no inherent defect in customers operating scooters or in the width of the aisle. The court found that the defendant did not meet the burden of showing the nonexistence of any disputed issue of material fact as to the existence of a defect but the court finds that the plaintiff had not met the burden of raising a genuine issue of material fact on the required element of notice because the defect included the operation of a scooter by another customer, independent of the defendant. Therefore, summary judgment is granted for the defendant. Alessie v. The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., LLC, No. NNH CV-18-6076540-S, 2022 WL 17439136, (Conn. Super. Ct. Dec. 2, 2022)