Wallace v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

612 S.E.2d 528 (2005)

Facts

Ps, husband and wife, visited a D store. While walking from the frozen foods section to the produce department, W slipped and fell, breaking her hip and injuring her back. W was not looking at the floor and did not notice anything on the floor that might have caused her to fall. W testified in her deposition that she did not notice any employees in the area before her fall. H, who had been walking behind his wife, was the first to arrive on the scene, followed by Rountree, a produce department employee, and then Stephens, co-manager of the store. H stated that his wife “stepped on a grape.” Stephens recalled seeing a grape in the area. Stephens filled out an incident report and photographed a mashed grape. According to Stephens, no one saw W fall. Rountree and Fleming, another produce department employee, told Stephens that they had “been through the area” 15 to 20 minutes before the fall and did not notice a grape on the floor. W did not actually see the grape and did not know how long it had been on the floor. H noticed a female employee walk over “and put her foot over [a] grape that was laying on the floor. H told her to remove her foot. Stephens did not recall anyone putting their foot over the grape, but he recalled J mentioning that someone was trying to cover up the grape. D employees established that they continually inspected and cleaned the floor. They perform a zone-defense inspection about every hour. D moved for summary judgment and it was granted. Ps appealed.