The New Jersey Supreme Court has re-affirmed Defendants’ ability to use the Ongoing Storm Rule to support the defense of a snow/ice slip-and-fall claim.
In Pareja v. Princeton International Properties, 463 N.J. Super. 231, 235 (App. Div. 2020), Plaintiff was walking to work in the early morning hours when he slipped and fell on ice. It was precipitating that morning and was below freezing temperatures. The Appellate Court initially reversed the summary judgment that was found in favor of the commercial property owner defendant and found that there are genuine issues of material fact as to whether the defendant acted reasonably under all circumstances by not doing anything to remove or prevent the black ice hazard during the precipitation.
The matter was recently appealed to the New Jersey Supreme Court on June 10, 2021, in Pareja v. Princeton International Properties, Inc., 2021 N.J. LEXIS 549 (2021). The court held that “. . .under the ongoing storm rule, commercial landowners do not have a duty to remove the accumulation of ice until the conclusion of the storm, but that unusual circumstances may give rise to a duty before then.” The exceptions include that: “[f]irst, commercial landowners may be liable if their actions increase the risk to pedestrians and invitees on their property. Second, a commercial landowner may be liable where there was a pre-existing risk on the premises before the storm.”
In Pareja, the parties do not dispute that there was a wintry mix and that the temperature was below freezing. There was a dispute as to the location of the fall. Plaintiff argues that he fell at an isolated patch of icy condition while defendant argued that the condition was found in an area that was caused by ongoing freezing rain. The Supreme Court ultimately held that “[a]pplying our precedent to a situation where a storm is ongoing, we hold that commercial landowners do not have the absolute duty, and the impossible burden, to keep sidewalks on their property free from snow or ice during an ongoing storm. We find instead that the limiting principles established in our precedent warrant the adoption of the ongoing storm rule.” The court found that defendant did not owe Plaintiff a duty to clear the snow and ice during a storm, that there were no unusual circumstances that would create such duty, that defendant took no action to increase Plaintiff’s risk, and that the record shows that the ice on the sidewalk was not a pre-existing condition.
Originally, the common law provided no liability for landowners for the condition of a sidewalk and no duty to keep the sidewalk free of snow and ice. As time goes by, the law carves out more exceptions to impose liability on landowners to keep the sidewalks clear of snow and ice for pedestrians. Overall, Pareja provides a significant defense that bars Plaintiff from recovery in matters involving a slip and fall increase the risk to pedestrians, and that landowners should ensure that there is no pre-existing risk on the premises before the storm.
Regardless, commercial landowners should continue to reevaluate their contractual agreements with vendors for snow and ice removal to ensure that they address providing snow and ice removal to their properties during an ongoing snowstorm in order to protect them from any liability for snow and ice-related injuries.
Authors Josh Ferguson (jferguson@fmglaw.com) and Michelle Yee (myee@fmglaw.com) are attorneys at the law firm of Freeman, Mathis and Gary.
The Purge
Well, that didn’t take very long. It’s been reported that Morton Salt is gutting 120 employees from its Chicago headquarters in the wake of its $3.2 billion takeover by the Kissner Group.
When the ink dried on this deal this summer, it brought together two major US salt produces to form a rock salt powerhouse, which is now controlled by the California-based industrial holding firm, Stone Canyon Industries. With more than 3,500 employees worldwide, many industry insiders believed a purge of Morton was bound to reduce administrative redundancies.
Back in late April, Stone Canyon closed its acquisition of K+S Americas salt business, which included the iconic Morton Salt brand.
According to a statement issued by Morton: “We can confirm that Morton Salt made the difficult decision to reduce its corporate workforce by 120 employees in our Chicago offices. This was not a decision we took lightly, but after a comprehensive evaluation of our company’s long-term financial outlook and our ability to become more competitive in the salt industry, this reduction was necessary to help meet our business goals. Impacted employees will receive severance or separation benefits, continued medical coverage and outplacement services to assist in finding new employment. We thank our employees for their service and wish them the best in their new endeavors.”
Membership Benefits
Attention ASCA members! CASE Construction Equipment is offering ASCA members an exclusive opportunity to save $3,000 on new CASE F Series compact wheel loaders and $4,000 on new CASE G Series wheel loaders. Enter bit.ly/ASCA_CASE into your browser to connect with your local CASE dealer.
CASE has been promoting the F Series compact wheel loaders and G Series wheel loaders as an essential iron supplement to beef up professional snow and ice management ops. According to CASE, here's what makes the F Series an essential tool:
- Improved lifting and breakout force
- Large comfortable cab
- Low-profile frame
- Excellent stability and load retention
And here are some G-Series highlights to consider:
- Simplified operation through an all-new touchscreen display
- New adjustable electro-hydraulic controls, optimized power modes and programmable configurable buttons near the joystick
- Improved power, productivity and efficiency
- Extreme fuel efficiency
- Lower engine operating temperatures
- No DPF/no regen emissions solution are matched with new features designed to shorten cycle times, increase uptime and make operators more efficient.
Explore the September 2021 Issue
Check out more from this issue and find you next story to read.
Latest from Snow Magazine
- NOTEBOOK: Go With The Flow
- NOTEBOOK: Winter Equipment Offers the RoadMAXX System
- NOTEBOOK: Yanmar Unveils Compact Loader Lineup
- NOTEBOOK: Schill Expands in Southwest Ohio
- October Cover Story: Achieving Wet Pavement
- August 2022 Cover Story: Beat The Odds
- May 2022 Cover Story: Bullish on Snow & Ice
- 2022 Top 100