Credit: alisonhancock/Adobe Stock Massachusetts Appeals Court: Jury Must Decide If Half-Inch Defect 'Too Minor or Insubstantial' to Support Negligence Claim
"Newport knew about the protruding 'lip' of the granite margin and planned to eliminate it in the spring through the application of a final course of asphalt that would make the roadway surface flush with the granite," an appellate court judge wrote. "At the time of the incident, the granite protrusion lacked any traffic cones, warning signs, or paint. As Newport's construction manager put it, he believed paint was not necessary because the protrusion was 'not in a pedestrian path of travel.'"
July 24, 2023 at 06:39 PM
4 minute read
The Massachusetts Appeals Court reinstated a suit brought by a woman who fell and injured herself in a crosswalk with a half-inch defect, which was deemed as "too minor or insubstantial" to support a negligence claim against a construction contractor.
The plaintiff, Joan Arruda, filed a negligence complain against Newport Construction Co. in Middlesex Superior Court for negligently maintaining the roadway and walkway and failing to provide a warning of a defect. Arruda was walking with her granddaughter to attend a neighborhood festival in September 2017, and they diagonally crossed a street into the crosswalk. Arruda caught her foot on the protruding granite margin, fell, and sustained injuries, according to the appellate court's July 21 opinion.
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