Belevich v. Renaissance I, LLC.

Syllabus

The plaintiffs, B and Y Co., sought to recover damages from the defendants, certain companies possessing, controlling, managing and maintaining certain premises, for personal injuries B sustained in connection with an alleged slip and fall as a result of untreated ice on the premises. The trial court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment on the basis of the ongoing storm doctrine, and the plaintiffs appealed to this court. Held that the trial court properly granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment because the defendants met their initial burden to demonstrate that there was no genuine issue of material fact that there was an ongoing storm at the time of B's fall, and the plaintiffs thereafter failed to sustain their burden: as the movants for summary judgment, the defendants met their initial burden by submitting admissi- ble evidence showing it was undisputed that there was an ongoing storm at the time of B's alleged fall, and the burden subsequently shifted to the plaintiffs to demonstrate the existence of a genuine issue of fact as to whether B's fall was caused by a slippery condition that existed prior to the ongoing storm and whether the defendants had actual or constructive notice of the allegedly preexisting condition, and the plain- tiffs failed to do so, as their evidentiary submission contained no evi- dence to suggest that the allegedly icy condition at the location where B fell had existed prior to the ongoing storm or that the defendants had actual or constructive notice of any preexisting icy conditions; moreover, this court expressly adopted the burden-shifting approach used by the state of New York in addressing this issue of first impression to deter- mine precisely what a movant for summary judgment must demonstrate to satisfy its initial burden when relying on the ongoing storm doctrine and any burden shifting that may follow. Argued October 7, 2020—officially released August 31, 2021