Bucci & Dix

United States District Court Denies Summary Judgment in Supermarket Slip and Fall Case.

The United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment in a supermarket slip and fall case.  The plaintiff slipped on green grapes that had fallen on the floor in the produce section of a Kroger grocery store.   The store clerk in the produce section was stocking red grapes on the opposite side of the island from the green grapes.  Kroger trains its employees to inspect for fallen items and to clean them up immediately.  The store clerk admitted that he should have seen the green grapes on the floor.  The court held that a reasonable jury could find that the clerk had breached the standard of care  and was therefore negligent because he was in the area 10 minutes before the fall, should have noticed the grapes, and should have removed them.