Court clarifies city’s liability in sidewalk trip and fall case

A question I’m frequently asked, especially by those familiar with Los Angeles’s decaying sidewalks, is who is responsible for a city sidewalk trip and fall injury?

The question is: It depends! A Court of Appeal case decided this week does help explain city liability in sidewalk trip and fall injury cases.

Mark Stack was jogging in the city of Lemoore, California back in 2019. He tripped over a 1 & 3/4 inch raised portion of the sidewalk, suffering a broken left wrist that required two surgeries. Ouch! He sued the city for negligence and for failing to repair a dangerous condition of public property.

Government Code section 835 requires a plaintiff to prove that a dangerous condition proximately caused his or her injury; that the condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the type of injury that was actually incurred, and that the public entity either created the dangerous condition through a negligent or wrongful act or omission of its employee, or had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition sufficiently in advance of the accident as to have had the time to remedy it.

The city argued that the sidewalk in question wasn’t dangerous—in fact, the city argued that the “defect” was so small as to render it “trivial.” The jury disagreed—awarding Mr. Stack $90,000. The city appealed the ruling.

This week the Court of Appeal affirmed (or agreed with) the jury’s decision. The Court ruled that courts should take a holistic approach to determining whether a defect was trivial or not. The Court confirmed that the size of the defect definitely matters—but it is not the only important factor to consider. Other factors include the nature and quality of the defect, whether any debris is concealing or obstructing the defect, the lighting and weather conditions, whether the defect has caused other injuries in the past, and the plaintiff’s familiarity with the area.

Here, the City emphasized that Mr. Stack was very familiar with the sidewalk in question—having jogged it approximately 300 times in the two years prior to his injury. The Court rejected this piece of evidence as being conclusive that the sidewalk wasn’t dangerous. Rather, the Court said the plaintiff’s subjective knowledge is just one factor to be considered, and it isn’t even the more important one at that.

As an experienced city sidewalk trip and fall injury lawyer, the city has argued that the defects were trivial in every single case I have presented over the years. Fortunately, I was able to defeat these arguments. Stack v. Lemoore is an important case because it provides a framework for sidewalk trip and fall injury cases in relation to whether a sidewalk defect is dangerous, or in fact, trivial or too minor to impose liability on the city.

If you or someone you know suffered a city sidewalk trip and fall injury, or other trip and fall injury on private property, my office is ready to assist, 24/6.