A Capehart Scatchard Blog

Supermarket in Multi-tenant Shopping Center Found Not Liable to Shopper Who Falls on Ice in the Parking Lot

By on September 16, 2016 in Liability, NJ Litigation with 0 Comments

Plaintiff, Grazio Spano, went shopping in the Acme store in the shopping center located on the Black Horse Pike, Mays Landing, N.J. Acme was the anchor store in this multi-tenant shopping center. After finishing her shopping, the plaintiff went back to her car and slipped on black ice in the parking lot. In Spano v. Supervalu, Inc., d/b/a Acme Markets, 2016 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1711 (July 13, 2016), the issue was whether Acme could be liable to the plaintiff for the injuries she suffered in the fall.

The owner of the shopping center, Paramount Realty Services, Inc., had a contractual obligation to maintain the shopping center, pursuant to a common area maintenance agreement, which governed its landlord-tenant relationship with Acme. Paramount hired Eric’s Snow Removal to provide for snow and ice removal at the shopping center. Eric’s hired Fresh Cut Lawn Service to perform this snow and ice removal.

About 2 weeks before the accident, 21 inches of snow fell. Fresh Cut plowed the lot and piled the snow into large piles on the grass islands in the parking lot. It came back on two subsequent occasions and salted the lot. Plaintiff parked her vehicle near one of the grass islands where Fresh Cut piled the snow.

Acme filed a motion for summary judgment, which the trial court granted. After settling her claims with the other defendants, the plaintiff appealed this order granting summary judgment as to Acme.

The Appellate Division found that this case was squarely controlled by Kandrac v. Marrazzo’s Mkt. at Robbinsville, 429 N.J. Super. 79 (App. Div. 2012). In Kandrac, the court ruled that a commercial tenant in a multi-tenant shopping center did not owe a duty to the plaintiff who fell in the shopping center in which the owner retained the responsibility to maintain the common areas.

Here, the plaintiff tried to distinguish Kandrac by arguing that it did not apply because Acme allegedly assumed a duty of care of informing the landlord or the snow removal contractor of dangerous or icy conditions so these areas could be addressed. Plaintiff claimed that Acme breached its protocol by failing to notify the owner or the snow removal contractor of the icy condition of the lot before Plaintiff fell. Plaintiff also claimed that it was Acme’s policy to apply rock salt to the parking lot.

The Appellate Division rejected these arguments. It found that Acme did not have a contractual duty to maintain the parking lot. If Acme’s employees did inform the owner or the contractor of icy conditions in the lot, it did so to permit the owner or contractor to carry out their contractual responsibilities. Further, the court noted that the record did not support plaintiff’s assertion that Acme had a policy of applying rock salt on icy patches in the parking lot. Rock salt was applied to the lot in response to this incident. The court found that the one time application of rock salt to the icy area of the incident did not justify the imposition of a general duty to keep the lot reasonably free of ice and snow. Accordingly, the Appellate Division affirmed the trial court’s decision, dismissing the complaint as to Acme.

Share

Tags: , ,

About the Author

About the Author:

Betsy G. Ramos, Esq. is an Executive Committee Member and Co-Chair of the Litigation Department at Capehart Scatchard, P.A. located in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney, Ms. Ramos is an experienced litigator with over 30 years’ experience handling diverse matters. Her practice areas include tort defense, business litigation, estate litigation, tort claims and civil rights defense, construction litigation, insurance coverage, employment litigation, shareholder disputes, and general litigation.

Ms. Ramos was selected to the “New Jersey Super Lawyer” list (2005; 2009-2024 in the area of Business Litigation). Only 5% of attorneys are selected to “Super Lawyers” through a peer nominated process based on independent research and peer evaluation. The Super Lawyers list is issued by Thomson Reuters. For a description of the “Super Lawyers” selection methodology, please visit https://www.superlawyers.com/about/selection_process.html

For the years 2020-2024, Ms. Ramos was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® list in the practice area of Litigation - Insurance. This award is conferred by Best Lawyers. The attorneys on this list are selected based upon the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. A complete description of The Best Lawyers in America® methodology can be viewed via their website at https://www.bestlawyers.com/methodology.

In 2021, Capehart Scatchard and Ms. Ramos received the “Best Law Firm” ranking in the area of Litigation – Insurance (Metro, Tier 3) published by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers®. Law firms included on the list are recognized for professional excellence with consistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. To be eligible for a ranking, a firm must have at least one attorney who has been included in the current edition of Best Lawyers in America, which recognizes the top five percent of practicing lawyers in the United States. Betsy Ramos (Litigation – Insurance) was recognized for this prestigious award in the 2021 edition. For a description of the “Best Law Firm” selection methodology please visit https://shorturl.at/ahlQ7
“Best Law Firms” is published by Best Lawyers in partnership with U.S. News & World Report. For a description of the selection methodology please visit https://shorturl.at/ahlQ7

*No aspect of this advertisement has been submitted to or approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

.

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Top