EVELYN GROSE V COUNTY OF OAKLAND
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
EVELYN GROSE,
UNPUBLISHED
May 16, 1997
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v
No. 191227
Oakland Circuit Court
LC No. 95-492082 NO
COUNTY OF OAKLAND,
Defendant-Appellee.
Before: Corrigan, C.J., and Young and M.J. Talbot*, JJ.
MEMORANDUM.
Plaintiff was injured when she ran afoul of a defect in the sidewalk leading to the entrance to a
building housing the Oakland County Department of Veterans Affairs. In this negligence action,
defendant’s motion for summary disposition was granted with respect to plaintiff’s attempt to bring her
case within both the highway and public building exceptions to governmental immunity. Plaintiff appeals
by right. This case is being decided without oral argument pursuant to MCR 7.214(E).
Where plaintiff ’s injury occurred on a sidewalk merely leading to an entrance to a public
building, and not in the entrance or within the building itself, her claim falls outside the scope of the
public building exception to governmental immunity and is therefore barred by immunity. Wing v City
of Detroit, 178 Mich App 628; 444 NW2d 539 (1989). This Court is without authority to expand the
scope of the public building exception beyond that established by the Legislature, particularly where the
Michigan Supreme Court has twice stated that the public building exception is to be narrowly construed.
Reardon v Department of Mental Health, 430 Mich 398; 424 NW2d 248 (1988); Wade v
Department of Corrections, 439 Mich 158; 483 NW2d 26 (1992).
Affirmed.
/s/ Maura D. Corrigan
/s/ Robert P. Young, Jr.
/s/ Michael J. Talbot
* Circuit judge, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment.
-1
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
