Appeals court turns down case over fall outside snowy pizzeria

MANISTEE (AP) — Cheese and pepperoni — but hold the compensation.

The state appeals court won’t reopen the case of a man who was injured outside a snowy Pizza Hut restaurant in northern Michigan.

In a 3-0 decision last week, the court says the risks of a snow-covered lot should have been “open and obvious” to Daniel Sievert. That’s a key defense in Michigan slip-and-fall lawsuits.

Sievert, a regular customer, was picking up an order at a Pizza Hut in Manistee when he tripped on the edge of a snow-covered ramp. Sievert says the problem was the ramp, not the snow. He says it was “out of sight and out of mind” that day.

But the appeals court says an average person should be aware of risks lurking in many inches of snow.