In Tzamarot v. JP Morgan Chase & Co., 2018 NY Slip Op 09023 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Dec. 27, 2018), the court unanimously affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s slip-and-fall complaint.
The court (tersely) stated:
Dismissal of the complaint was proper since plaintiff’s attempt to walk on top of a curbside mound of snow as a shortcut to his parked car, instead of using a nearby path that had been cleared of snow and ice, was the sole proximate cause of his accident.
There is not really much to say about this decision, other than that one takes a shortcut, to the exclusion of a nearby clear path, at one’s peril.
As we head into winter, be careful out there.