Slip and Fall In a Movie Theater In California

In Travis v. Metropolitan Theatres Corp. (1949) 91 Cal. App. 2d 664, 205 P.2d 475, plaintiff was walking down the aisle in defendant's theater when she slipped on vomitus and fell. The defendant contended "that there is no evidence as to how long the defective condition existed, and that therefore only by guess, conjecture or surmise could the jury have determined that defendant should have discovered it." (Id. at p. 667.) However, there was evidence the "slippery, repulsively odoriferous substance" (id. at p. 666) had been there for some time, "long enough to form a crust on its surface. A witness testified that the substance was dry on top with a crust like a pie but moist in the middle, that it was light yellow in the center and dark brown elsewhere." (Id. at p. 668.) In spite of contrary evidence, this justified the conclusion that the "pie" had been there more than long enough to put defendant on constructive notice.