Premises Liability – Slip and Fall on Snow or Ice

Case: Lemmerhart v. Marciniak

Court: Michigan Court of Appeals ( Unpublished Opinion )

Judges: Per Curiam – Boonstra and Swartzle; Concurrence – Ronayne Krause

“[A]bsent special circumstances, Michigan courts have generally held that the hazards presented by snow, snow-covered ice, and observable ice are open and obvious and do not impose a duty on the premises possessor to warn of or remove the hazard.” Slaughter v Blarney Castle Oil Co, 281 Mich App 474, 481; 760 NW2d 287 (2008). Moreover, “the presence of wintery weather conditions and of ice on the ground elsewhere on the premises render[s] the risk of [ice] ‘open and obvious such that a reasonably prudent person would foresee the danger’ . . . .” Ragnoli v North Oakland-North Macomb Imaging, Inc, 500 Mich 967, 967 (2017).