Background
Christi Esteves was injured when a garden cart she was using at a Lowe’s store tipped over, missing a front wheel. She and her husband sued the store for negligence under a premises liability theory, arguing the store had constructive knowledge of the defect. The district court granted summary judgment for Lowe’s, finding the plaintiffs failed to show how long the missing wheel had been present.
The court’s reasoning
The court applied the time-notice rule, which requires proof of the duration of a dangerous condition to establish constructive knowledge. The plaintiffs relied on circumstantial evidence, including store policies and employee proximity, but offered no specific evidence on how long the wheel was missing. The court found that speculation regarding the length of time the defect existed was insufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact. Additionally, the court noted that an internal inspection policy does not automatically impute constructive knowledge without evidence that the policy was followed or that the defect was known.
What it means going forward
The ruling reinforces the strict requirement in Texas premises liability cases for temporal evidence to prove constructive notice, making it difficult for plaintiffs to survive summary judgment based solely on employee proximity or internal policies.