Business & Insurance Litigation Newsletter for Indiana

No Common Law Duty to Maintain Adjacent Sidewalks

In Denison Parking, Inc., v. Davis, 861 N.E.2d 1276 (Ind. Ct. App.), the Indiana Court of Appeals established two important points pertinent to slip and fall cases. Plaintiff slipped and fell on an icy sidewalk which adjoined a parking lot owned by the defendant, Denison Parking. Denison moved for summary judgment on the grounds that as a matter of law it owed no duty to plaintiff. The trial court denied Denison's motion, and the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed. In doing so, the Court of Appeals established two important points. First, it held that in Indiana there is no common law duty to clear ice and snow from an adjacent public sidewalk, noting that the municipal ordinance requiring Denison to clear the sidewalk was enacted for the benefit of the municipality, not as a precaution for protecting members of the public using the sidewalks. Second, the court held that Denison's internal manuals, which did in fact require employees to clear the sidewalks from snow and ice, did not give rise to a duty of care to the public. A concurring opinion did note that the outcome might differ if the plaintiff was an invitee of the defendant business and was injured while using a public sidewalk to access the business, rather than simply a third-party pedestrian using the public sidewalk.