CENTRAL ISLIP, NY – A federal judge has dismissed a Suffolk County woman’s lawsuit against Walmart after finding there was no evidence the retail giant had prior knowledge of the substance she slipped on inside its store.
Tanya Crawford sued Walmart Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores East, Inc., alleging negligence after she fell in a store aisle on August 20, 2022, during a routine shopping trip. But in a decision issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Orelia E. Merchant granted summary judgment in Walmart’s favor, ruling that Crawford failed to show that the store had created or should have known about the dangerous condition that caused her fall.
According to court records, Crawford slipped while walking down an aisle after selecting a screwdriver. She testified that she hadn’t seen anything on the floor before slipping, but noticed a “black, wet substance” after falling. An eyewitness, Keith Saboe, described a four-inch skid mark and oily substance he believed resulted from Crawford’s foot sliding through the liquid. Still, he could not say how the substance got there or how long it had been present.
A Walmart employee arrived at the scene after the fall and confirmed seeing “something” on the floor, but provided no details and admitted she did not investigate the incident further.
The court held that under New York law, a plaintiff must prove either that the store created the hazardous condition or had actual or constructive notice of it — meaning it existed for a sufficient length of time that it should have been discovered and addressed.
Crawford acknowledged she had no idea how long the substance was on the floor before her fall, and no evidence suggested Walmart employees knew about it or that it had existed long enough for them to discover it. Without that information, the judge ruled there was no legal basis to hold Walmart liable.
The ruling brings an end to the federal case, which was originally filed in Suffolk County Supreme Court before being removed to the Eastern District of New York in May. The lawsuit had sought damages for injuries Crawford claimed she suffered in the fall.
Walmart has faced numerous slip-and-fall claims nationwide, but courts have repeatedly emphasized that the burden of proving store knowledge remains high in premises liability cases.