Sidewalk Liability, What You Should Know

Premises liability laws protect visitors who get injured due to unsafe conditions at the places they visit. The law offers the strongest protections for customers who suffer accidental injuries at places of business, such as if a customer slips on a wet floor at a supermarket, trips on a rock at a golf course, or gets injured by merchandise falling from a shelf at a big box retail store. You can also recover compensation through a premises liability claim through the doctrine of social host liability. This means that you can file a premises liability lawsuit against a homeowner if you get injured while you are a guest at the homeowner’s house.  Sidewalk liability is more complicated. If you got injured when you fell on a sidewalk in front of a private residence, contact a South Jersey premises liability lawyer.

Court Rules in Favor of Homeowners Who Did Not Remove Snow From Sidewalk While House Was Under Renovation

In the winter of 2021, people had settled into their pandemic era habits. While some people descended into social media-fueled paranoia or elaborate feats of home cooking, others sought consolation in more mundane pursuits, such as walking for exercise or home renovations. Those two pursuits intersected in an unfortunate manner in a neighborhood in Morristown. In October 2020, Christopher and Maureen Annese vacated their home while it was under renovation; they did not move back in until the summer of 2021, when the worst of the pandemic shutdowns had ended.

On a snowy morning in February 2021, Debra Gottsleben went for a walk in her neighborhood. Most of the neighbors had shoveled the snow from their sidewalks, but the Annese family did not, since they would not return home for several months. Gottsleben slipped and fell on the ice, suffering multiple fractures in her ankle. She later underwent surgery to repair the injuries.

Gottsleben filed a premises liability lawsuit against the homeowners; unlike most personal injury lawsuits, this one went to trial. The issue in this case was that the plaintiff claimed that, since the house was under renovation, it counted as commercial property, but the defendants claimed that, since the house is a private residence, it legally counts as residential property. The trial court sided with the defendants, and the plaintiff appealed the decision. The appeals court also ruled in favor of the defendants.

Contact Monaco Law About Slip and Fall Accidents

Contact Monaco Law PC in Marlton, New Jersey to discuss your slip and fall accident case. Joseph Monaco is a New Jersey personal injury lawyer serving Atlantic County, Burlington County, Cape May County, Camden County, Cumberland County, Gloucester County, Mercer County, Middlesex County, Ocean County, Salem County and all of South Jersey.

Source:

newjerseymonitor.com/2025/07/03/court-reinforces-protections-for-new-jersey-homeowners-after-slip-and-fall-case/