LINCOLN, Neb. (Legal Newsline) - Wet grass is a weather condition, the Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled in a lawsuit brought by a man who was nearly struck with a riding lawnmower that slipped down a hill.
Aaron Brown sued the State of Nebraska after the incident, but the state Supreme Court on Oct. 13 found the State was entitled to immunity from certain claims arising out of conditions caused by weather.
Brown was sitting at a picnic table at a state recreation area on August 2017. The park's superintendent, Joseph Blazek, was mowing wet grass (it had rained the day before) on a slope above where Brown was sitting.
The mower slipped and careened down the hill, striking the picnic table and tossing Brown from it. Brown sued over his injuries, claiming the superintendent failed to give an audible warning and failed to exercise ordinary care.
The State's argument for immunity was successful in the trial court, and the Supreme Court agreed.
"Brown's claim stems from the lawnmower's slide down the slope and the resulting collision with the picnic table," the ruling says. "And... Blazek testified that the lawnmower slid down the slope because of the wet conditions and that once the mower started sliding, there was nothing he could do to stop it.
"Not only did Brown not provide any evidence to contradict Blazek's testimony that the lawnmower slid down the slope because of the wet grass, he corroborated it, testifying that the collision occurred because of the wet conditions and through no fault of Blazek's.
"Because the evidence established a causal relationship between the wet grass in the recreation area and Brown's injuries, Brown's claim arises out of a temporary condition caused by nature and due to weather."