Summary Judgment Granted to Municipal Client - Property Defect
Scott D. McKenna and Denise N. Kruse

August 2016

---

Scott McKenna and Denise Kruse obtained summary judgment on behalf of a municipality where the plaintiff alleged she fell into a defective and open sewer cover in a roadway as she was trying to cross the street.  There was no dispute that the sewer cover was broken and had a defect allowing someone’s foot to fall into it, and it was further undisputed that the municipality had notice of the condition prior to Plaintiff’s injury.  Plaintiff claimed she suffered a significant shoulder injury involving surgery as a result.  BVH was able to prove that Plaintiff was not an intended user of the area where she was crossing the street as it was outside the crosswalk, and further that the condition was open and obvious, thus negating under the Tort Immunity Act and common law any duty owed by the municipality to keep the sewer cover in good repair.