Ohio Appellate Court applies open & obvious doctrine to defeat grocery store patron’s premises liability action.

Ohio’s Eighth Appellate District applied Ohio’s open and obvious doctrine to defeat a claim involving a patron’s fall that took place in the parking lot of a Heinen’s grocery store. Robert Brosnan was walking toward the entrance of a Cleveland Heinen’s when he tripped and fell over a parking lot curb located near the entrance of the store. Brosnan admitted that he was aware of the existence of the curb, but was not paying attention to where he was walking because he was watching for traffic. Under these facts, the court found that the curb was open and obvious, as there was no evidence that a defective or unsafe condition in the parking lot caused the fall and the traffic in the parking lot was no different than a customer would normally encounter. As such, Brosnan was precluded from maintaining an actionable premises liability claim against the grocer. The Brosnan opinion is significant because it highlights the robust liability defense that Ohio premises owners possess when a trip and fall incident occurs in a parking lot where the fall was not caused by any unsafe or defective condition but, rather, solely due to the natural features of the parking lot. Under such circumstances, premises owners should not hesitate to utilize the open and obvious defense as part of a well-supported summary judgment motion.

Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, January 2018

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