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Under New Jersey Law, City Has No Liability For Plaintiff’s Injury Due To Fall On Snow In Street

By on April 23, 2021 in Liability, NJ Litigation with 0 Comments

In March 2015, plaintiff Donell Prince left his rooming house where he lived and noticed that there was snow on the common walkways of the rooming house property and the adjoining public sidewalks.  Plaintiff decided to walk in the street because snow had been plowed from the street into the sidewalks.  He fell and landed on his backside and side of his body.  One of the issues in Prince v. City of Englewood, 2021 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 247 (App. Div. February 12, 2021) was whether the City of Englewood could be liable for plaintiff’s fall on the public street because of snow conditions.

Plaintiff alleged that Englewood was negligent in failing to remove the snow from the public sidewalks and streets and this negligence caused him to fall and suffer injuries.  At the trial court level, Englewood successfully filed a motion for summary judgment, obtaining a dismissal of the lawsuit as to it.  This appeal ensued. 

The Appellate Division pointed out that the well settled case law under the New Jersey Supreme Court case of Miehl v. Darpino gives public entities in the State absolute immunity for all snow removal activities.  As the Supreme Court later stated in Bligen v. Jersey City Housing Authority, “[t]he common law immunity was based primarily on the limitless liability that could be imposed on an entity, such as a state, county, municipality, or turnpike authority, that had the responsibility to clean up numerous streets and roads.”  Subsequent case law, after the Tort Claims Act was enacted, held that the Tort Claims Act did not change the common law snow removal immunity available to a public entity.

Thus, the Appellate Division found that summary judgment was properly granted in favor of the City of Englewood.  Plaintiff’s allegation was that he slipped and fell on a public street because of snow conditions.  The Court held that “because Englewood enjoys immunity from liability for its snow removal activities, it cannot be held liable for plaintiff’s alleged injuries.”  Thus, the trial court’s decision, granting summary judgment as to the defendant Englewood was affirmed by the Appellate Division.


Betsy G. Ramos, Esq. is expanding her practice to include serving as mediator for NJ or PA civil cases. Ms. Ramos recently completed the required 40-hour Civil Mediation Training Program conducted by the New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators (NJAPM). Completion of this program meets the training requirements for Rule 1:40 Civil, General Equity, and Probate Mediation Roster of the Superior Court, as maintained by the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts.

Please contact Ms. Ramos at 856-914-2052 or bramos@capehart.com if you wish to retain her services as a mediator for any civil litigation, including personal injury, construction, employment, probate, or chancery matters.

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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; 2009-2023 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.

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