Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Surratt

Opinion .

TERRY McCALL, Justice.

This appeal addresses the duty of a business owner/operator to protect its invitees from conditions caused by a natural accumulation of frozen precipitation on its parking lot. 1 Linda Ruth Surratt suffered a serious ankle injury when she slipped and fell on Wal-Mart’s parking lot. The parking lot was covered at the time by an accumulation of frozen precipitation caused by a recent ice storm. Citing cases from other jurisdictions, Wal-Mart argues that it did not have a duty to protect its invitees from the conditions caused by natural accumulation of frozen…