JOANN JENNINGS V NEW ATTITUDES BEAUTY SALON INC
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
JOANN JENNINGS,
UNPUBLISHED
February 28, 2008
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v
No. 274303
Genesee Circuit Court
LC No. 05-082462-NO
NEW ATTITUDES BEAUTY SALON, INC.,
Defendant-Appellant.
Before: Whitbeck, P.J., Owens and Schuette, JJ.
OWENS, J. (dissenting)
I respectfully dissent from the majority’s conclusion that the trial court erred when it
denied defendant’s motion for summary disposition. I believe that a question of fact exists
regarding whether the icy conditions in the parking lot at the time plaintiff left the salon were
open and obvious.
Plaintiff claims that she traversed the parking lot of the salon, located on the northwest
side of Flint, several times earlier in the day and did not notice ice in the parking lot. However,
the temperature dropped in the hours immediately preceding her fall and it was dark when she
left the salon. Further, although the city of Flint recorded an official temperature of 35 degrees
Fahrenheit soon after plaintiff’s fall, this temperature was recorded at Bishop International
Airport, located approximately ten miles south of the salon. I believe that a question of fact
exists regarding whether the temperature and weather conditions in the parking lot were such that
water from melting snow piles adjacent to the parking spaces ran onto the parking lot and then
began forming black ice as the temperature dropped. Consequently, given that plaintiff did not
notice ice or moisture on the parking lot earlier in the day and approached her vehicle in the
dark, I believe that a question of fact exists regarding whether the formation of ice near the
driver’s side door of plaintiff’s car was open and obvious.
Further, I believe a question of fact exists regarding whether plaintiff could have avoided
stepping on the black ice in order to enter her car. The majority notes that plaintiff could have
entered her vehicle through the passenger-side door. However, plaintiff was wearing a denim
skirt and would have had to climb over a central console in her vehicle in order to reach the
driver’s seat from the passenger side of the vehicle. I believe a question of fact exists regarding
whether plaintiff could have done this, given that little information was provided in the lower
court record regarding her age, weight, height, physical disabilities, and other factors that could
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have affected her ability to climb over the central console of her car. For these reasons, I would
affirm the trial court’s order denying defendant’s motion for summary disposition.
/s/ Donald S. Owens
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