In a personal injury negligence case involving a slip and fall on leased property, the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court, relying on the precedential decision of Baldwin Shields v. Ramslee Motors, affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to a property owner on the basis that a commercial property owner can properly delegate the duty to remove snow and ice to a tenant. Clark & Fox was instrumental in obtaining the important holding in Ramslee by taking the case all the way to the New Jersey Supreme Court to secure liability protection for commercial landowners who vest their tenants with exclusive control of leased premises. This protection worked out well for the defendants in Johnson v. National School Bus Service as seen below.

In Johnson, Plaintiff was a driver for defendant National School Bus Service (“National”), which parked its buses on land leased from the property’s owners. She was injured while performing an early morning pre-drive inspection of a bus in the parking lot when she slipped and fell on snow and ice. National had a long-standing oral agreement with the property owner to lease part of the owner’s property to park buses. Under this oral agreement, National exclusively used, maintained and controlled the leased parking area. National’s responsibilities for the leased portion of the property included snow and ice removal, for which it retained the services of a snow removal company. The company only performed its services when requested to by National.

Plaintiff filed a negligence action against National and eventually added the property owner and snow removal company as additional defendants. The trial court entered summary judgment in favor of the property owner because it found that National had sole responsibility to maintain the parking lot. It also granted summary judgment to the snow removal company, holding that there was no evidence that the company was negligent in removing snow and ice.

On appeal, plaintiff argued that the property owners owed her a duty under Ramslee to maintain the leased area free of hazards because National’s lease agreement with the owners was not in writing. Since the lease was oral, plaintiff maintained that the length of the lease, the area of property being leased, or the duties of the parties under the lease could not be determined, leaving the property owner in control of the property. The Court disagreed with plaintiff’s reasoning and found that plaintiff failed to establish why the oral list was not a binding agreement governing National’s obligation for snow and ice removal.

Looking at the evidence, the Court found that it was undisputed that National leased the parking area from the owners and assumed responsibility to maintain the area by keeping it clear of snow and ice. It found the parties had a clear “meeting of the minds” about the terms of the oral lease. Accordingly, the Court held that National had the responsibility to clear that area of snow and ice—not the property owners—and that summary judgment was properly granted in the owner’s favor.

Plaintiff further argued that the snow removal company was improperly granted summary judgment because disputed material facts could lead a fact-finder to conclude that the company was responsible for the occurrence of the accident. Again, the Court disagreed with Plaintiff. The record had clearly established that the company’s last removal of snow was one month prior to plaintiff’s fall. Even though additional snow falls had occurred after that date, National had not requested the company’s snow removal services. The Court held that plaintiff failed to establish how the company could be liable for a fall that occurred a month after the last snow removal and affirmed summary judgment in the company’s favor.

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