MADISON — A state appeals court Thursday, Dec. 3 ruled that the city of Monroe is immune from a lawsuit brought by a personal injury attorney injured when he slipped and fell on an icy street in 2017.
In dismissing Gregory E. Knoke’s lawsuit, the District IV Court of Appeals reasoned that the city has discretion in how it chooses to control ice and snow on its streets, and the street’s condition didn’t create a danger that required a response.
“To conclude otherwise would ignore the realities that Wisconsin pedestrians are accustomed to icy winter conditions and that a Wisconsin municipality will never be able to address every potentially unsafe snow and ice accumulation on its roadways and must instead exercise its discretion in determining how and when to respond to them,” Judge Rachel Graham wrote in the 25-page opinion.
The opinion reverses Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke who denied the city’s request to dismiss the suit. The case was transferred to Dane County because Knoke, who has practiced for years before Green County judges, was a party to the suit.
Ehlke held up finalizing his ruling while the city appealed.
Two statutes were at issue on appeal, one gives municipalities’ immunity from suit for up to three weeks after an ice or snow event. The other statute offers discretionary immunity can apply to municipalities depending on the circumstances.
The city contended that Ehlke applied the wrong governmental immunity statute to the case. However, it argued that either statute gives the city immunity from a suit for damages resulting from accumulated ice and snow.
Knoke’s attorney argued that under the applicable statute, the city doesn’t enjoy immunity from suit for failing to remove snow and ice three weeks after it has accumulated.
While how long the snow and ice had accumulated on 10th Street remained in dispute, schools were closed due to an ice event that happened the days before Knoke was injured.
The District IV Court concluded that since it couldn’t be proven how long the ice had existed on 10th St., the correct statue to apply gives municipalities immunity for discretionary decisions it makes including when to clear ice and snow from streets.
In a phone interview, Knoke said his suit was never about money, he wanted the city to do a better job of removing ice and snow from the 1900 block of 10th Street, where his office is located.
“The curb on the left side historically fills up over the winter with snow and ice and you have to park further out into the street to avoid it. That was the case that winter (January 2017). The ice and snow accumulated along the curb. I got out of my truck and while getting some work out of the back seat I slipped on an ice ramp and broke my hip,” he said.
Ice and snow remain and harden in the gutter where snowplows just “bounce” off it leaving behind the ramps of accumulated ice, Knoke said
After his accident, Knoke told the city that if the ice is cleared from the street in a few weeks he wouldn’t sue, but when he returned to work in a wheelchair two weeks later, the gutters were still ice-filled.
He said he tried to get the city to realize that they approved this one-way street for business, but the street’s south side can only accommodate cars parked against the curb. If the ice isn’t removed, stepping from a car into accumulated snow and ice creates a danger underfoot.
Although the city contested the suit, it changed how it cleared snow from 10th Street, Knoke said.
“Now they bring end-loaders and dump trucks just like they do on other streets. I have a crappy hip, it hurts all the time, but they do a better job with the snow and ice so, I guess I won that point,” said Knoke.
City Administrator David Lothspeich did not return a call for comment before deadline.