Chiara v. Fry's Food Stores of Arizona, Inc.

JACK D.H. HAYS, Justice, Retired.

Plaintiff-appellant, Nancy P. Chiara (Chiara), slipped on some creme rinse in a store owned by defendant-appellee, Fry’s Food Stores (Fry’s). Neither Chiara nor Fry’s employees could explain how the creme rinse fell to the floor nor estimate how long it had remained on the floor. Chiara argued that the “mode-of-operation” rule allowed her to prove negligence without demonstrating that Fry’s had either actual or constructive notice of the spilled creme rinse. Nevertheless, the trial court granted pretrial summary judgment in favor of Fry’s apparently because…