Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Associate Alanna Mecca secured the dismissal of all claims against the firm’s client, a chain of fitness centers, in Westchester County Supreme Court.
The plaintiff alleged that he was injured when the seat of a seated row machine fell to the floor during use. He made claims of negligence, asserting that the fitness center breached its duty to him as a customer by failing to provide him with reasonably safe exercise equipment, and claimed that the center knew or should have known of the unsafe equipment conditions and repaired them prior to the plaintiff’s use.
Testimony from the fitness center’s general manager revealed that the seated row machine was inspected daily through physical manipulation of its components. During the inspection, the manager never found any problems with the machine and was not aware of any instance in which the seat failed to lock or dropped down. The fitness center’s general manager and fitness manager also conducted a post-accident inspection and observed no defects, damage, looseness, instability, malfunction, or irregularity with the seat or any other component, after which the machine remained in service without any repair or corrective action.
Relying on the client’s daily inspection program and post-accident inspection, the court dismissed the case, finding that GRSM’s client had neither actual nor constructive notice of any defect.