During a snowy morning in February, plaintiff, a courier, was making his rounds delivering packages to residents. The previous night, several inches of snow had accumulated on the sidewalks abutting numerous residential properties. In the early morning hours, defendant Louis Gallo removed the snow from the sidewalk in front of his residential property using a shovel and a snow blower. Following this morning errand, Gallo went to work while snow continued to fall.

A couple hours later, plaintiff arrived at defendant Gallo’s property to deliver a package, while it was still snowing, and he slipped on ice that was concealed by snow. Plaintiff remained immobilized for a few minutes, and was subsequently taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a dislocated and fractured patella. Plaintiff filed a lawsuit against Gallo, claiming that his fall was caused by a hidden hazard in the form of ice underneath fresh snow on the sidewalk.

Following discovery, defendants filed for summary judgment. In his opposition, plaintiff argued that defendants created a greater hazard by shoveling the snow into mounds alongside the public sidewalk which then melted and refroze on the sidewalk. The trial court granted defendants motion for summary judgment and plaintiff appealed. The appellate court, citing Foley v. Ulrich, 94 N.J. Super. 410, 424 (App. Div.), held that a residential property owner does not owe a duty to the public where the property owner shovels the snow from the sidewalk, and ice forms on the sidewalk after the shoveled snow melts. The court reasoned that the danger to the safe use of the sidewalk which existed when plaintiff fell was solely caused by natural forces, i.e. the freezing and melting of snow. The court opined that this natural phenomenon would have occurred even if defendants had not shoveled the sidewalk.

Further, the court held that public policy supports shielding residential property owners from this form of liability as there is a societal interest in encouraging people to clear public sidewalks and avoiding the inequity of imposing liability on those who voluntarily choose to do so. Moreover, the undisputed testimony indicated that it continued to snow even after defendant shoveled the snow and additional snow accumulated – leading to the conclusion that defendants did nothing to create a new danger or hazard.  As such, the appellate court affirmed the trial courts holding granting summary judgment in favor of the defendants.

Putting aside the “storm in progress” aspect of this ruling, we expect the outcome may have been different in New York, where “freeze and thaw” conditions often prompt denial of summary judgment.  Thanks to Steve Kim for his contribution to this post.  Please email Brian Gibbons with any questions.