LCBF is successful on appeal in extending the Shields decision to an oral lease

On August 18, 2023, the New Jersey Appellate Division issued a ruling affirming the decision to dismiss a plaintiff’s complaint in a workplace accident, holding that the property owner owed no duty to the plaintiff. 

LCBF represented First Student, Inc. in the matter. The plaintiff was a First Student employee who alleged a serious injury after falling on snow and ice during her early morning, pre-drive inspection of her school bus. The bus was in a parking lot that First Student leased from the co-defendant property owner pursuant to an oral lease.  The property owner filed a third-party complaint against First Student seeking a defense and indemnity pursuant to its arrangement with First Student. 

After the plaintiff rejected a reasonable settlement offer from First Student, both First Student and the co-defendant property owner filed motions for summary judgment asserting that the property owner owed no duty to the plaintiff under the Supreme Court of New Jersey’s decision in Shields v. Ramslee Motors, 240 N.J. 479 (2020). These motions were granted by the trial court, and the plaintiff filed an appeal.  In Shields, the Supreme Court ruled that a property owner owed no duty to a plaintiff who slipped on snow and ice, when the written lease placed responsibility for snow and ice removal on the tenant.

On appeal, LCBF and the property owner successfully argued that Shields should be extended to an oral lease. The Appellate Division determined that the property owner did not owe a duty of care to plaintiff because the deposition testimony showed that, under the terms of the oral lease, First Student was responsible for snow and ice removal at the parking lot. The court rejected plaintiff’s argument that the oral nature of the lease created a question of fact for the jury on that issue. The court also said that no duty was owed by the property owner under Hopkins v. Fox & Lazo Realtors, 132 N.J. 326 (1993), because, among other things, plaintiff’s workers compensation claim against First Student provided her with an adequate remedy for the accident. 

The appeal team was headed by Gerry Ford.