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Kauffman v. Eastern Food & Gas Inc.

Premises owners have a duty to protect invitees from foreseeable dangers, including naturally occurring ice.

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After purchasing goods from an Amoco food store, Richard Kauffman walked on the store’s sidewalk leading from the store entrance to a waiting vehicle parked only a few feet away in the store’s parking lot. He slipped on a three-foot patch of clear ice on the sidewalk, breaking three ribs and injuring his wrist. Alleging negligence, he sued Sam Shariff and Eastern Food & Gas as owners of the land and store. The owners moved for summary judgment on the ground that they had no actual or constructive knowledge of the hazard. The trial court agreed, holding that the owners had no duty to discover and remove ice which naturally accumulated on their premises.

The owners presented no evidence of a regular inspection procedure other than a cleaning inspection not for the purpose of safety every shift change,1 which they could not show was actually done on the date in question. Employees were trained to periodically check the premises for safety and, if they saw some ice, to cover it with sand. Or the employees were to close off a dangerous area. Such safety inspections were to be done “randomly” or “as needed,” and “more often” in bad weather conditions. Again, the owners produced no evidence or documentation that such occurred on the date of the accident. The question on appeal is whether this evidence mandated summary judgment in their favor. We hold it did not and reverse.

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