TT&H Attorney Karin Romano Wins Summary Judgment in Allegheny County Premises Liability Action

TT&H Attorney Karin Romano recently won summary judgment in connection with an Allegheny County premises liability action.  The case arose from a tenant’s alleged slip and fall in the parking lot of her apartment complex.  Following an overnight snowfall, the Plaintiff’s incident occurred at 7:30 a.m.  It was no longer snowing at the time, with snowfall stopping sometime prior to 6:00 a.m.  The Plaintiff’s fall occurred after she worked a night shift and returned to the apartment complex.  The Plaintiff pulled into a parking space that was covered in fresh snow with no tracks.  She slipped and fell after exiting her car and taking a few steps.

Plaintiff argued that the owner and manager of the apartment complex were negligent because the parking areas had not been cleared of snow and ice by the “morning rush hour,” when the Defendants should have anticipated that tenants would need to get to their cars.  Rejecting the Plaintiff’s argument, the Court found that summary judgment was warranted based on the “hills and ridges” doctrine.  That doctrine precludes a landowner’s liability for generally slippery conditions resulting from a recent snowfall, unless it is proven that the landowner allowed the condition to exist for an unreasonable length of time, such that the snow and ice accumulated in ridges and elevations.  In her case, Karin cited several Superior Court decisions where the landowner was not liable for a fall that occurred in the morning hours following overnight precipitation.  Persuaded by this authority, the Allegheny County Court granted Karin’s Motion and entered summary judgment in favor of her client.

Questions about this case can be directed to Karin Romano at (412) 926-1426 or kromano@tthlaw.com.