LIGHT RAIN DIDN'T GIVE THEM AN OUT
New York law generally provides that a property owner may not be liable for an injury that occurs while a storm is in progress, and that any duty to remove snow or ice is abated for a “reasonable time” until after that inclement weather ends.
In the matter of Jackson v. 681 Filmore, after D. Jackson slipped, and sustained fall related injuries, she filed suit against the parties that “owned or operated” the property in question.
When the defendants sought pre-trial relief, and asked that the case be dismissed, the Erie County Supreme Court denied that request, and an appeal to the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, followed.
While the defendants had asserted that they were protected by the “storm-in-progress” rule, the AD4 didn’t think the record supported that contention. In addition to Jackson’s sworn testimony that there was no precipitation at the time of her fall, the defendants’ own videotape evidence showed “that it was only lightly raining and there was no snow on the ground in front of the relevant properties, although there were small mounds of old accumulated snow near the road.”
Since the defendants failed to meet their burden of proof, the AD4 let the underlying determination stand.
Was that as right as rain?
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DECISION
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