| Venue: | NY Ct. App. |
| Facts: | Dude slips on a piece of paper. |
| Posture: | Finding for plaintiff at trial, affirmed on appeal. |
| Issue: | Does the plaintiff's case establish that the defendant knew about the piece of paper? (i.e., is there a prima facie showing of negligence?) |
| Holding: | No. Reversed. |
| Rule: | A finding of constructive notice requires that the defect be known or apparent for enough time that we can presume the defendant did or should have discovered it. |
| Reasoning: | There's really nothing in the record that suggests the piece of paper was there for more than a couple of minutes. The problem here isn't causation-- it's that the plaintiff hasn't shown that the defendant knew about the problem. |
| Dicta: | |