New Jersey Appellate Division reaffirms that the mode of operation doctrine does not apply without a relationship between the substance that caused the plaintiff’s fall and a self-service component of the defendant’s business.

The plaintiff slipped and fell on liquid dish detergent that had spilled onto the floor approximately three feet from the checkout counter. The motion judge granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, finding that the plaintiff failed to establish that the defendant was negligent as there was no circumstantial or direct evidence as to how long the detergent had been on the floor. The motion judge also ruled that the mode of operation doctrine did not apply and, therefore, the plaintiff was not entitled to an inference of negligence against the defendant. On appeal, the Appellate Division agreed that the plaintiff was unable to prove negligence because there was no evidence that the defendant had notice of the spill on the floor. The Appellate Division relied upon the recent holding of Prioleau v. Kentucky Fried Chicken, 223 N.J. 245 (2015) to affirm that the mode of operation doctrine did not apply to this case. The Appellate Division found no relationship between the spill of a liquid detergent that caused the plaintiff’s fall and a self-service component of the defendant’s business. The court found that the liquid was not packaged by the customer or a store employee and that there was no indication in the record that a customer’s or an employee’s handling of the merchandise created the spill. As such, summary judgment was affirmed as to the defendant.

_{Case Law Alerts, 2^nd Quarter, April 1, 2016}

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