Injury & Accident Law
A Change in Direction Results in Tossed Slip-and-Fall Lawsuit for Michigan Man
A Michigan man who injured himself after falling on an uneven sidewalk can’t pursue a lawsuit because he got his directions mixed up.
Plaintiff Robert Graczyk claims he injured himself while retrieving his trash can, and gave the city of Bay City a notice of a potential claim in 2007. Graczyk said he injured himself on the northeast corner of the street; in fact, it was the northwest corner, the Associated Press reports.
In an unpublished opinion (PDF), the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled the city was entitled to summary judgment because Graczyk didn’t comply with the statutory requirement to give exact notice of the location. The plain language of the law must be enforced, the court said, “not rough approximations of its provisions.”
