A federal court judge recently granted a national discount department store’s motion for summary judgment concluding that the mode of operation doctrine did not apply in this slip and fall case.
The case involved a store guest slipping on a liquid as she stepped from a carpeted area onto the uncarpeted store floor. It was argued that the Connecticut’s self-service “mode of operation” doctrine, which relieves plaintiff of burden of proving notice, applied to this claim. However, Connecticut case law is in a period of development with respect to the parameters of this theory of liability.
After extensive briefing and oral argument it was held that: the mode of operation doctrine should not be expanded to make an entire store within the zone of risk as the doctrine was intended to be restricted to areas immediately adjacent to a self-service operation; there was no evidence that the spill originated from any beverage sold in a self-service manner by the store; and the plaintiff could not establish that any store policy or procedure with respect to consumption of beverages foreseeably increased the risk of undetected spills in the store.