Client: Wawa
Court: Superior Court of New Jersey, Camden County
Brief/Oral Argument Attorney: Voris M. Tejada, Jr., Esq.
**Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances**
Plaintiff Hicks sued Wawa for negligence arising out of a slip and fall which occurred in a Berlin Wawa store on December 14, 2019. Both parties acknowledged that on the date of Plaintiff’s fall, it was rainy. Video surveillance footage showed that from the exterior of the store, Plaintiff first entered into a vestibule, and from there passed through another door to the store interior. Plaintiff’s fall occurred as she was stepping into the store interior from the vestibule, approximately one step into the store. Notably, the door Plaintiff utilized to enter the store from the vestibule displayed a red, octagon-shaped sign which read “CAUTION! Floor May Be Slippery. Your Safety is Important to Wawa.” While Plaintiff acknowledged the sign was there, she testified she never saw the sign. Although Plaintiff saw no water on the ground prior to her fall, she testified that after her fall, she observed water on the ground and felt that her clothing was wet.
Capehart Scatchard, on behalf of Wawa, filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, arguing that by placing the above-referenced sign on the very door Plaintiff used to enter the store, Wawa provided a sufficient warning of the alleged dangerous condition (water), thus satisfying any duty owed to Plaintiff. Plaintiff argued that because the door contained other signage, in the form of Wawa promotional material, which might have distracted Plaintiff from seeing the CAUTION sign, it was up to a jury to determine whether the warning given by Wawa was sufficient. In response, Wawa noted that per Plaintiff’s own deposition testimony, she was not paying attention to anything on the door, or elsewhere in her surroundings, as she entered the store. As such, there was no evidence Plaintiff was distracted by other signage on the door. After oral argument, the Court found that there was no evidence Wawa had been negligent in any manner or breached any duty owed to Plaintiff. The Court thus granted Wawa’s Motion, dismissing Plaintiff’s Complaint with prejudice.
