Merritt v. Dep't of Soc. Servs., 459 N.W.2d 10 (Mich. Ct. App. 1990). · Go Syfert
Search
Merritt v. Dep't of Soc. Servs., 459 N.W.2d 10 (Mich. Ct. App. 1990). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
20 citation events (5 in the last 25 years) across 2 distinct courts.
Strongest positive: Wade v. Department of Corrections (mich, 1992-03-24)
Treatment trajectory · 1991 → 2026 · click a year to view as-of
1991 2008 2026
Top citers, strongest first. 2 distinct citers. How cited ↗
discussed Cited "see" Wade v. Department of Corrections (2×)
Mich. · 1992 · signal: see · confidence high
See Merritt v Dep’t of Social Services, 184 Mich App 522, 523 ; 459 NW2d 10 (1989) (an accumulation of ice on a parking lot maintained by the defendant was not within the public building exception; the scope of the exception was narrowed since Tilford); Dew v Livonia, 180 Mich App 676, 679 ; 447 NW2d 764 (1989) (the intent of the Legislature was to apply the public building exception to " dangers actually presented by the building itself,’ and not to all injuries incurred inside or adjacent to a public building”); Wing v Detroit, 178 Mich App 628, 631 ; 444 NW2d 539 (1989) (the plaintiff…
examined Cited "see, e.g." Horace v. City of Pontiac (3×)
Mich. · 1998 · signal: see also · confidence low
See also Merritt v Dep’t of Social Services, 184 Mich App 522, 523 ; 459 NW2d 10 (1990) (the plaintiff slipped and fell on some ice in a parking lot; the Court of Appeals noted that the scope of the public building exception had been narrowed considerably since Tilford and held that the exception did not apply to a parking lot where entry and exit from the building was not directly possible from the parking lot [entry and exit were via a sidewalk]); and Eberhard v St Johns Public Schools, 189 Mich App 466, 467 ; 473 NW2d 745 (1991) (the plaintiff was injured on a playground when a basketball…
Retrieving the full opinion text from the archive…
Merritt
v.
Department of Social Services
Docket 110802.
Michigan Court of Appeals.
Feb 8, 1990.
459 N.W.2d 10
Gittleman, Paskel, Tashman & Blumberg, P.C. (by Gary R. Blumberg), for plaintiffs., Frank J. Kelley, Attorney General, Louis J. Caruso, Solicitor General, and A. Michael Leffter and Ronald W. Emery, Assistant Attorneys General, for defendant._
Reilly, Cynar, Burns.
Cited by 10 opinions  |  Published
Per Curiam.

This is an action for injuries suffered by plaintiff Inez Merritt when she slipped and fell on an accumulation of ice in a parking lot maintained by defendant Department of Social Services and located adjacent to defendant’s building. In their complaint, plaintiffs relied on the public building exception to governmental immunity, MCL 691.1406; MSA 3.996(106). The trial court granted defendant’s motion for summary disposition, and plaintiffs appeal as of right. We affirm.

Relying on Tilford v Wayne Co General Hosp, 403 Mich 293; 269 NW2d 153 (1978), plaintiffs argue that the parking lot in this case is a "passageway” into defendant’s building and ice on a passageway to a public building constitutes a dangerous or defective condition coming within the public building exception to governmental immunity. We disagree.

The scope of the public building exception has been narrowed considerably since Tilford, supra. See Reardon v Dep’t of Mental Health, 430 Mich 398; 424 NW2d 248 (1988). The Tilford Court held that an entrance way to a public building fell within the exception. While the holding in Tilford, supra, may still be viable since Reardon, supra, this Court has not extended the reach of the exception to parking lots, particularly where, as here, the facts indicate that entry and exit from defendant’s building is not possible directly from the parking lot, but must rather be done from an entrance off of a sidewalk. See Abrams v Schoolcraft Community College, 178 Mich App 668; 444[*524] NW2d 533 (1989) (slip and fall on ice in school parking lot); see also Hendricks v Southfield Public Schools, 178 Mich App 672; 444 NW2d 143 (1989) (fall from snow pile in school playground).

Affirmed.