Landowner’s lease agreement with another entity does not abrogate landowner’s duty to its customers to keep premises safe.

The plaintiff slipped and fell on ice while visiting Acme in the Fox Run Shopping Center. The defendants, Acme and Fox Run, sought dismissal of Acme and its owner Albertsons because the lease agreement between Acme (tenant) and Fox Run (landlord) made Fox Run responsible for clearing snow and ice in the parking lot. The court denied the motion, holding that the duty Acme owed to the plaintiff was independent of its contractual relationship with Fox Run. Acme owed a common law duty of care to its customers to keep its premises safe.

_{Case Law Alerts, 2^nd Quarter, April 2017}

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