For Whom The Bottle Drips

In Sopiqoti v The Kroger Company of Michigan, unpub MI COA, 11-29-18 (Doc No. 339895), the MI COA held that Plaintiff failed to present any evidence that Defendant possessed actual or constructive notice of spilled laundry detergent in its store.

In a premises liability action, a claimant must present evidence of actual or constructive notice. Constructive notice requires the showing that a hazard was of such a character, or had existed for a sufficient time, that a reasonable premises possessor would have discovered it. In Sopigoti, Plaintiff fatally relied on her guesses and the public’s “general knowledge” of dripping bottles to try to establish notice. The Court ruled that a plaintiff must present substantive evidence rather than conjecture and speculation to meet her burden of providing evidentiary proof establishing a genuine issue of material fact.

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