Township Immune from Municipal Parking Lot Lawsuit

Facts: A woman slipped and fell on a large patch of ice in a municipal parking lot while walking to her car. The ice patch had formed as a result of water running downgrade from melting snow piled near the parked cars, and then freezing.

The woman sued the township for negligence, arguing that it had not properly instructed its snowplow driver as to where in the municipal lot he should put plowed snow so that any runoff wouldn't form ice patches.

The woman and the township each asked the trial court for a judgment without a trial in its favor. The trial court granted the township's request, and the woman appealed.

Decision: The appeals court upheld the trial court's judgment without a trial in the township's favor.

Reasoning: The appeals court pointed out that New Jersey municipalities have common law weather immunity from lawsuits for accidents allegedly caused by snow or ice. It noted that the Tort Claims Act also provides governmental immunity for weather-related accidents on streets and highways.

The court explained the policy behind governmental common law immunity for injuries occurring due to weather-related conditions, especially snow and ice: “By their very nature, snow-removal activities leave behind ‘dangerous conditions,’ and no matter how effective an entity's snow-removal activities may be, a multitude of claims could be filed after every snowstorm.”

Because a municipality is not liable for accidents related to snow-removal activity on its property, the appeals court ruled that the trial court in this case had properly dismissed the woman's slip-and-fall accident claim.

• Shallberg v. Township of West Orange, June 2009