Slip, Trip and Fall Injuries in Michigan

In Michigan, the duty a property owner or occupier owes depends on whether the visitor is a trespasser, a licensee or an invitee. A land possessor owes invitees (such as customers) a duty to use reasonable care to protect them from an unreasonable risk of harm caused by a dangerous condition of the land. In 2023 the Michigan Supreme Court held that whether a hazard was open and obvious no longer decides whether a duty exists; it is considered as part of whether the owner breached the duty and of the injured person's comparative fault, and the court overruled the earlier 'special aspects' rule to the extent it conflicted with that approach.

Kandil-Elsayed v F & E Oil (2023) involved a customer who slipped on snow and ice at a gas station. The Michigan Supreme Court held that the station, as a land possessor, owed the invitee a duty of reasonable care, and that the open and obvious nature of the snow and ice is weighed in deciding breach and comparative fault rather than whether a duty existed; the case was sent back for trial-court proceedings on those questions.

A city or other municipal corporation must keep a sidewalk next to a public highway in reasonable repair. It is liable only if the injured person proves it knew, or should have known, of the defect at least 30 days before the injury. The city is presumed to have kept the sidewalk in reasonable repair unless the injury was caused by a vertical discontinuity of 2 inches or more or another dangerous condition in the sidewalk itself, and it may raise premises-liability defenses such as 'open and obvious'. The state and county road agencies' highway repair duty does not extend to sidewalks.

For an injury caused by a defective highway, the injured person must serve written notice on the governmental agency within 120 days of the injury, giving the exact location and nature of the defect, the injury and known witnesses. Notice may be served personally or by certified mail on someone who can accept legal papers for the agency; for the state, it is filed in triplicate with the clerk of the court of claims.

Modified comparative fault. Damages are reduced by the injured person's percentage of fault. If the injured person's fault is greater than the combined fault of all others (that is, more than 50%), economic damages are reduced by that percentage and no noneconomic damages (such as pain and suffering) are awarded. In auto no-fault tort cases, no damages for noneconomic loss are assessed in favor of a party more than 50% at fault.

Three years after the time of the injury for most actions to recover damages for injury to a person. Shorter periods apply to some claims, such as 2 years for assault, battery or false imprisonment and 2 years for malpractice; 10 years applies to claims for criminal sexual conduct.