How have courts dealt with cases where a customer slips on a wet spot?

In Tuttle v. Crawford (1936) 8 Cal.2d 126, 63 P.2d 1128, the plaintiff, "a woman in middle life" (id. at p. 127, 63 P.2d 1128), fell on a wet spot in a market. The jury ruled in her favor. "Water dripping from heads of lettuce which had been immersed in tubs or bins containing water to freshen them had formed a pool on the floor as the lettuce was transported from the tubs and placed on the racks or display stands.... [P]ortions of lettuce leaves and particles of vegetable matter ... within the wet area, also contributed to the fall[.]" (Id. at p. 128, 63 P.2d 1128.)

In Lehman v. Richfield Oil Corp. (1953) 121 Cal.App.2d 261, 263 P.2d 13, the plaintiff slipped on a spot of oil after using a phone booth at defendant's service station. A witness saw "old grease stains and a fresher oil stain the size of a silver dollar which appeared to have been there several hours but `was still one day fresh.' It was flat and had soaked in to some extent." (Id. at p. 263, 263 P.2d 13.) The stains were still there several days later. A nonsuit granted the defendant was reversed.

In Hale v. Safeway Stores, Inc. (1954) 129 Cal.App.2d 124, 276 P.2d 118, there was conflicting evidence about how long the banana which caused plaintiffs fall had been on the floor. The unpeeled banana had small teeth marks on it, which led to the inference that "the banana had been dropped on the floor by a small child who had tried to bite into the fruit without peeling it, and had failed." (Id. at p. 126, 276 P.2d 118.) The plaintiff was accompanied by her 10-year-old son, but had seen no other small children in the store during the 30 to 45 minutes she had been there. In addition, the store was busy at the time and evidence indicated that "aside from employees in the meat department, all other employees were working at the cashiers' stands." (Id. at p. 131, 276 P.2d 118.) In spite of contradictory testimony from an employee that he had swept the area 12 minutes before, the other evidence would have justified a finding that the banana had been on the floor significantly longer, enough to provide constructive notice. Nonsuit for the store was reversed.

In McKenney v. Quality Foods, Inc. (1957) 156 Cal.App.2d 349, 319 P.2d 448, the practice of the market was to have the checkout counter clerks clean produce and drop discarded remnants on the floor. Orders were to clean up immediately. Brooms and dustpans were located within reach. An employee testified he had swept the area 5 to 10 minutes before plaintiff slipped on lettuce and fell, but had not swept or inspected the aisle where she fell. Other employees denied seeing anyone sweep during that time frame. The evidence was sufficient to establish actual knowledge of an existing danger in that vegetable matter was regularly being placed on the floor and required immediate clean-up.