A business that creates a hazard cannot escape a fall claim simply by saying it ran out of time to post a warning. The Supreme Court of Maryland made that point on September 25, 2026, in DARCARS Toyota of Silver Spring v. Blackwell. The decision matters to anyone who slips on a freshly mopped floor, a wet entrance, or any other hazard that a store's own staff created.
Katharine Blackwell brought her car to DARCARS Toyota of Silver Spring for an oil change and waited in the customer lounge. An employee noticed a dirty spot on the floor near the lounge and asked a coworker to clean it. The coworker mopped the area, left the wet floor unattended, and went to get a wet floor sign. He posted no sign before or while he mopped.
Before he came back, the first employee announced that Ms. Blackwell's car was ready and called her over to collect her keys. She walked toward him, did not see the wet spot, slipped, and fell, injuring her right side. The employee with the sign returned about two minutes after he had finished mopping.
Ms. Blackwell sued in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County. The dealership asked for summary judgment, arguing that two minutes left it too little time to warn anyone. The circuit court agreed and ended the case without a trial, relying on Rehn v. Westfield America, 153 Md. App. 586 (2003), a case in which a mall food court spill was on the floor only a few minutes.
The Appellate Court of Maryland reversed in February 2026. It held that the business had notice of the hazard the moment its own employee knowingly created it, citing Tennant v. Shoppers Food Warehouse Maryland Corp., 115 Md. App. 381 (1997). Because notice and warning were not simultaneous, whether the dealership acted promptly enough was a question for a jury, not the judge.
The Supreme Court of Maryland affirmed. It explained that the employee in Rehn could not protect customers until she learned of a hazard that already existed. The dealership's employee stood in a different position, because he made the floor wet himself as part of an assigned task.
The Court pointed to choices the dealership had. A jury could find that a reasonable business would have posted the sign before mopping, warned Ms. Blackwell on her way across the room, or not called her to the freshly mopped area. Each of those steps was available before anyone slipped, so the two-minute gap alone did not settle the case.
The decision sends the premises liability claim back to the circuit court for trial, with costs assessed against the dealership. The Appellate Court did uphold dismissal of a separate claim that the dealership negligently hired, trained, or supervised its employee, because the record held no evidence of negligence in training or supervision.
Most Maryland fall cases turn on notice. When a spill comes from another customer, the injured person usually must prove how long it sat on the floor, and a few minutes is often not enough. When the business itself creates the hazard, by mopping, waxing, stocking, or leaving equipment in a walkway, it knows of the danger from the start, and the question becomes whether its precautions were reasonable.
That question usually belongs to a jury. Businesses still raise contributory negligence, which bars recovery in Maryland if the injured person failed to use reasonable care. Evidence of where signs stood, what employees said, and whether staff called a customer across a wet floor can answer that defense.
Note whether any sign was posted, where it stood, and whether employees were mopping or cleaning nearby. Photograph the floor, the mop or bucket, and any signs before staff remove them. Write down the names of employees who spoke with you, and ask the manager to complete an incident report and preserve surveillance video.
Get medical care promptly, and describe how the fall happened to the doctor who treats you. Under Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article Section 5-101, a person generally must file a Maryland injury claim within three years. You can read more in our article on falls at Maryland condominiums and stores.
Christopher L. Beard, an Annapolis attorney, represents people injured in falls at stores, dealerships, restaurants, and other businesses throughout Maryland. To discuss a premises liability claim, e-mail chris@attorneybeard.com or call (410) 267-0227.
