Silvia Tercero v. Sobarzo Enterprises, Inc. dba Sedano’s Supermarket #14

Carl Bober and Ashley Arias (Hollywood, FL) (Premises Liability) obtained Summary Judgment in favor of our client in the negligence case of Silvia Tercero v. Sobarzo Enterprises, Inc. dba Sedano’s Supermarket #14. The 54-year old Plaintiff allegedly slipped and fell on some grapes and water at our client’s grocery store, and claimed to have sustained herniated discs and knee derangement, with surgical recommendations.  Plaintiff argued that a former employee in the produce section observed the creation of the spill and relied upon the store surveillance video from the date of the incident, which appeared to show the employee facing in the direction of the spill at the time it occurred, to argue that the defendant had actual and/or constructive notice of the condition.  In our defense, we obtained a post-suit recreation photograph from the area where the employee was seen standing in the video at the time of the spill which affirmatively showed that the employee could not have been able to see the area of the spill as claimed by opposing counsel, and also argued that the interval of time between the creation of the spill and the Plaintiff’s accident was otherwise insufficient as a matter of law.  Utilizing the new federal summary judgment standard, the Court found that no reasonable jury could find that Sedano’s had actual or constructive notice of the alleged dangerous condition, and that there was no evidence of negligence on its part.  Our Motion for Entitlement to Attorney’s Fees and Costs is pending.