The Law

Slippery When Algae by Ron Davis Could a customer of a Louisiana shopping center have prevented a slip-and-fall injury by avoiding his chosen entrance to the facility? The shopping center is Acadiana Mall in Lafayette. And the customer’s injury occurred when he visited the center for indoor walking exercise. As he made his way to the selected entrance, he noticed an accumulation of surface water blocking his path. To avoid the accumulation, he moved to his right. But in doing so, he stepped into a buildup of algae, causing him to slip and fall and resulting in a fracture of a bone in his right lower leg. He nevertheless got to his feet, walked into the center, and summoned security. A security guard responded to the summons and inspected the scene of the accident. There he observed some skid marks in the surface algae. He had previously noticed that the injured customer’s pants were somewhat wet. But he said he had not noted any visible injury that the customer had suffered. The guard then observed that the drain through which the water should have flowed was clogged by algae, leaves, and cigarette butts. He responded to his findings by offering to call an ambulance for the injured customer, but the customer declined the offer, got into his car, and left the center premises. The center’s director of operations later visited the scene of the accident. He subsequently acknowledged that the center had no set policy for inspecting the premises. But he added that safety crews regularly examined the parking lots, checking for trash, debris and safety hazards. He also said that Acadiana maintenance employees do not perform regular inspections of storm drains, and are only responsible for unclogging any stopped-up drains that are reported to him. Moreover, he acknowledged that a slippery substance within a pedestrian walkway can render that walkway unsafe. The injured customer subsequently sued the Arcadiana owners, seeking to obtain compensation for his injury. At trial, the judge ruled in favor of the center’s owners, finding that “there existed an open and obvious puddle and that it was obvious to the injured customer as well as the general public.” The customer appealed the conclusion that he was injured by the puddle of water and in fact he said he never stepped in the water. The Louisiana Court of Appeals ruled that the injured customer “had an entire mall parking lot to park his car and multiple locations from which to enter the mall, but he chose the one location to walk through that had an obvious accumulation of water, with mud and algae equally obvious on the edge of the water puddle…. Thus, the ‘condition’ giving rise to his fall was open and obvious.” (Trahan v. Acadiana Mall of Delaware, WL 4851766 [La.App. 3 Cir] Decision: October 2014 Published: November 2014