Date range

Only consideration relevant to grant of summary judgment based on Ongoing Storm Doctrine is whether the storm was ongoing at time of alleged accident. All other considerations are not “material facts.”

The plaintiff alleged she slipped and fell in a Wal-Mart parking lot while it was snowing. The Wal-Mart store opened at 6:00 a.m., and Wal-Mart’s snow removal contractor, Tree Fellas, LLC, arrived onsite between 6:00 a.m. Case Law Alerts, 3rd Quarter, July 2019

A duty of care to remediate snow and/or ice during an ongoing snow storm is not triggered until the storm stops for a reasonable amount of time to permit start of remediation, even when snow removal contractor was on-site and working during the storm.

The plaintiff arrived at Wal-Mart after it had been snowing heavily for approximately three hours. At that time, the snow removal contractor had been on site for approximately one hour, performing snow removal services. Case Law Alerts, 3rd Quarter, July 2019