The exterior of a McDonald’s
FORT WORTH — On a clear sunny day, Anne Jenkins tripped on a downward slope in a McDonald’s parking lot, leading her to sue the popular fast food chain.
On Aug. 21, the Second Court of Appeals affirmed a ruling granting the owners of the McDonald’s summary judgment.
The suit was brought by Anne Jenkins, who filed suit C&W Johnson Mgt Co. and JMCII/JMC Partners.
While attempting to walk from an elevated parking area adjacent to the McDonald’s parking lot on “a clear, sunny afternoon,” Jenkins fell and injured herself when she stepped on a sloped transition between the two curbs that joined the parking lots, the Second Court’s opinion states.
She sued McDonald’s for premises liability, alleging that the downward slope was unmarked, unguarded, and hidden from her view by the general landscape – constituting an unreasonably dangerous condition.
In turn, McDonald’s filed a no-evidence motion for summary judgment, arguing, among other things, that it had no duty to warn Jenkins of the complained-of condition because it was “open and obvious.”
The trial court granted the motion and Jenkins appealed, arguing that the trial court erred. The Second Court affirmed the ruling “because the slope between the curbs was open and obvious.”
The franchisee’s deposition revealed that no other falls involving the curb had been reported during the ten years the owners operated the restaurant.
“Because Jenkins failed to carry her burden of producing some evidence to raise a genuine issue of material fact that the slant between the curbs was not open and obvious, we hold that the trial court did not err by granting the no-evidence motion for summary judgment filed by McDonald’s,” the opinion states. “Having overruled Jenkins’s sole issue, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.”
The Bailey & Galyen law firm represents Jenkins.
McDonald’s is represented by the Blue Williams law firm.
Appeals case No. 02-25-00057-CV
