Gilberg v. Toys R us

Plaintiff slipped and fell on a 1 foot by 2 feet patch of ice in defendant's parking lot. His complaint claimed that defendant's tortious conduct in allowing ice to accumulate in a depression in the pavement was the proximate cause of his injuries. The circuit court denied plaintiff's request for a change of venue, found no evidence that the patch was an unnatural accumulation of ice and granted defendant's motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff appeals, claiming: (1) the change of venue was erroneously denied; (2) summary judgment was erroneously granted; (3) defendant breached its duty to warn plaintiff of the ice; and (4) the natural-accumulation rule should be abolished in light of the adoption of comparative fault. The pleadings, affidavits, depositions and photographs on file indicate plaintiff noticed no ice in the lot prior to his fall but thereafter noticed 3% to 5% of the lot was covered with ice patches. Defendant's assistant manager deposed that she noticed no ice during her morning inspection of the lot and may have instructed the patch to be salted after the accident. She received no other complaints about nor knew of any other similar accidents occurring in the lot. The day was bright and clear, and it had not snowed in the previous 24-hour period. No warning signs were posted regarding ice patches.