Trial lawyers specializing in personal injury and civil litigation
Woman cannot sue Royal Oak over defective sidewalk
Linda Dinkins' claim against the City of Royal Oak was dismissed by the Court of Appeals this week, after it reversed a decision of the trial judge. Dinkins claimed that she tripped on an uneven slab of concrete and suffered serious injury to her hand. She filed a lawsuit allging that the City should have known of the defect because neighborhood children had used it as a "bike ramp" for at least one calendar year. The City argued that the defect measured only one-half inch in height and that the case should be dismissed for this and several other reasons. The Court of Appeals concluded that no matter how severe the "ramp" of the two adjancent concrete blocks, given a height differential of only one-half inch, the sidewalk was "reasonably safe for public travel."