Smith v. Fraternal Order of Eagles

The question presented by this appeal is whether a landowner who attempts to remove a natural accumulation of ice and snow and thereby causes a condition more dangerous than before the attempted removal is protected by the general rule that a landowner has no duty to remove a natural accumulation of ice and snow. We hold the landowner is not so protected and therefore reverse the judgment of the trial court which granted a directed verdict for the landowner at the close of the plaintiff’s case.

At just after noon on December 24, 1985, plaintiff, Linda Smith, and Donald Edman entered the…