QUESTION
Can I sue a church if I fell on their property?
Asked on Jan 09th, 2020 on Slip and Fall - New York
More details to this question:
The child I nanny for attends a day school at a church. While walking around my car to get the child out of her car seat, I slipped on a sheet of ice and fell on my knee. The whole parking lot was ice. Another women slipped and fell as well so it was not just me. When I went in to the school they already knew I had slipped, someone who witnessed it outside called the school to let them know. I got an incident report but now I have knee pains, as well as swelling and bruising. I now have to see my orthopedist. The church explained to my boss that they have a deal with a local plow company that is supposed to come and ice their parking lot. They said whoever notices the ice first is supposed to let the other know so they can come put salt down. At the time of the incident the school/church had already been occupied by employees for Atleast an hour and their was already complaints about the ice when my accident occurred.
1 ANSWER
Automobile Accidents Attorney serving New York, NY
Partner at
Kramer, Dunleavy & Ratchik, PLLC
4 Awards
So sorry to hear about your fall. Generally speaking, a property owner has a legal duty to maintain its property in a reasonably safe conditionand to keep them free and clear of snow and ice. Whether the church woudl be legally responsible for your fall depends on whether it either knew or should have known about the ice in the parking lot before your fall. Whether it should have done about the ice will depend on how long the ice was present and whether the church had a reasonable opportunity to discover it and remove it. Whether the snow removal company is also responsible depends on the terms of its contract with the church and other factors.
If this is something you wish to pursue you should find an experienced personal injury attorney in your vicinity. You can find one through Lawyers.com and/or by clicking on the "Find a Lawyer" link.
Hope this helps.
Best regards,
Jonathan R. Ratchik, Esq.
Kramer, Dunleavy & Ratchik, PLLC
61 Broadway, Suite 2220
New York, NY 10006
Answered on Jan 27th, 2020 at 3:55 PM