In this matter, the Plaintiff alleged that he slipped and fell on the premises occupied by Mountain Valley Orthopedics.
While the Defendants asserted that they could not be held liable under Pennsylvania law as the Plaintiff slipped and fell during the course of an ongoing snowstorm, the Plaintiff’s countered with the argument that the cause of the icy patch upon which the Plaintiff fell was frozen water runoff from an overhead metal canopy.
The court noted that deposition testimony in the matter showed that runoff was a common problem at the premises. As such, the court noted that there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the icy patch was form by runoff, was the product of a premise snowstorm, or was the product of the snowstorm that was occurring on the same day of the incident.
The court also found issues of material fact with regards to the Defendants raising the Choice of Ways Doctrine. The court noted that the Plaintiff testified that he did not perceive the risk of the icy patch as it was covered by snow at the time of the incident. As such, the court found that issue of fact regarding the Plaintiff’s awareness of any risk barred the entry of summary judgment.
Finally, the court noted that there were issues of material fact relative to whether or not the Hills and Ridges Doctrine should be applied since there were issues of fact about the cause of the icy patch and whether the runoff from the canopy constituted a defect. For this additional reason, the Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment was denied.
Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.
Source: “Digest of Recent Opinions.” Pennsylvania Law Weekly (Sept. 28, 2021).
Source of image: Photo by Damian McCoig on Unsplash.com.
LOOKING TO TRY TO SETTLE YOUR SLIP OR TRIP AND FALL CASE
BRING YOUR CASE TO A CLOSE BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR
dancummins@Cumminslaw.net
(570) 319-5899
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.