Slip and Fall

It is hard in Michigan to sue for a trip or slip and fall, but the law may be changing.

Up to now, the Supreme Court has ruled that if a hazard is “open and obvious,” you can’t sue if you slipped or tripped. “Open and obvious” means the hazard could be seen on “casual inspection.” If the hazard was not visible because the light was very bad, or the hazard was not visible from the direction you were walking, you may have a claim.

Even if the hazard was open and obvious, you may have a claim if the hazard was “effectively unavoidable.” That means you had to walk over the hazard to get to where you were going – there wasn’t another route available. For example, you’re trying to enter an office building and there’s a complete sheet of ice in front of the doorway. You have to walk on that ice to get in. The ice is “open and obvious,” but if you slip and get hurt, you can sue the property owner because there was no other way to get into the building.