Elstun v. Spangles, Inc.

Hill, J.:

In Kansas, slight defects in sidewalks do not present an actionable negligence claim against cities or those who maintain them. This doctrine is known as the slight-defect rule. The district court applied that rule to this case where Violetta Elstun fell and broke her hip in a Spangles parking lot because of a 2-inch rounded depression she did not see when she tried to get into her car. We hold the district court’s application of the slight-defect rule to a parking lot was improper. We reverse and remand.

The district court decided this case by granting summary judgment.

On February…