A recent ruling by the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District upheld the decision of a lower court to apply the Missouri snow-and-ice rule, sometimes known as the “Massachusetts Rule” to a slip-and-fall case involving a woman who sued River City Casino.
Joseph E. Bant of Lewis Rice LLC, the firm that represented the casino, told the St. Louis Record that they are pleased with the court’s ruling, which declined to abrogate the rule.
“The rule has been an important part of Missouri law for more than 65 years and has been applied repeatedly through the decades,” Bant said. “Fundamentally, the rule is good policy, and we believe that the policy that underlies it is just as sound today as it was when the rule was initially adopted.”
Bant said that the Missouri snow-and-ice rule makes sense as it prevents property owners from being held liable for conditions outside of their reasonable control.
“The rule rightly and sensibly protects property owners from lawsuits and liability where a person slips and falls as a result of snow or ice – or due to an ongoing snow or ice storm or freezing rain – that reflects a condition general to the community,” he said.
Bant said that the fact snow and ice conditions are not unique to the property is relevant to application of the rule.
“In these cases, the snowy or icy conditions are not specific or unique to the property, or anything that the property owner caused, but rather simply demonstrate how a weather event affects a community at large,” he said.
While upholding the summary judgement in favor of the casino, the court of appeals did overturn a summary judgement in favor of Total Lot Maintenance, the provider contracted for snow and ice removal at the casino. The court’s opinion states that, because the material facts regarding whether Total Lot Maintenance assumed a duty are genuinely disputed, the matter must be decided by a jury.