Nunez v. City of Redondo Beach
Facts: A city maintains public right-of-way sidewalks used by pedestrians. The city is required to repair any lifts in the sidewalk greater than a half-inch. A pedestrian trips and falls to the ground, suffering injuries, due to a slab of sidewalk lifted slightly beyond the half-inch threshold. The pedestrian makes a demand on the city to pay for losses incurred due to the fall, which the city rejects.
Claim: The pedestrian claims the city was negligent and liable for their losses due to the lift in the sidewalk since the city is responsible for repairing the sidewalk when it is lifted greater than a half-inch.
Counterclaim: The city claims it is not liable for the pedestrian’s injuries since the lifted slab was a trivial condition.
Holding: A California appeals court holds the city is not liable for the pedestrian’s injuries caused by the condition of the sidewalk and the pedestrian is not entitled to recover their losses since the city does not have a duty to protect pedestrians using public right-of-way sidewalks from trivial defects which may pose a tripping hazard. [Nunez v. City of Redondo Beach (2022) 81 CA5th 749]
Read Nunez v. City of Redondo Beach.
Related article:
Martinez v. City of Beverly Hills
Related reading:
Property Management
Chapter 41: Dangerous on-site and off-site activities
