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DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

Wise v. Stonebridge Cmtys., LLC, 927 N.W.2d 772 (2019)

Citation
Wise v. Stonebridge Cmtys., LLC, 927 N.W.2d 772 (2019)
Parent Document
Wise v. Stonebridge Cmtys., LLC, 927 N.W.2d 772 (2019)
Jurisdiction
Minnesota (state)
Effective Date
2019-04-29

Other Sections in This Document (34)

Full Text

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The record contains inconsistent testimony about the extent to which the mat may have concealed the uneven sidewalk. Wise testified that the mat covered "a lot of lips" in the concrete and she could remember and depict the location of the mat on the day of her accident. But she later testified that, as she approached the front entrance, she "wasn't even looking for the mat." A former Stonebridge employee testified that he observed the uneven sidewalk to be under the mat, at the edge near the front entrance. Yet he also testified that he observed the raised part of the sidewalk as "coming out on either side" of the mat. Wise testified that when she fell her face was above the mat, the middle of her body was on the mat, and her feet were below the mat on the concrete. The inconsistencies surrounding the precise placement and the role of the mat in Wise's accident present a genuine issue of material fact on whether the uneven sidewalk constituted a hidden danger or an open-and-obvious condition, and renders this case ill-suited for summary judgment. While the Wises' challenge to the objective standard of the open-and-obvious determination fails, the inconsistencies surrounding the exact placement of the mat should have been resolved in favor of the Wises, as the nonmoving parties, and precluded the district court's grant of summary judgment. DECISION