Facts

On June 2, 2019, Shon Lavette Collins took an Uber to Tabernacle Church, located at 321 North Eucalyptus Avenue in Inglewood. At the end of her ride, she exited and walked around the back of the vehicle, at which point, she tripped and fell, injuring herself. Collins filed an initial claim for damages with the City of Inglewood in July of 2019. In that claim, she stated that she fell on cracked, uneven pavement and that she tripped and fell on an uneven sidewalk. This initial claim was rejected, and the City requested that Collins provide information about where she fell and what her direction of travel had been. In October 2019, Collins submitted an amended handwritten claim, and in that claim, the only information regarding the location of her fall was "on the street in front of the Tabernacle Church located at 321 North Eucalyptus Ave" and that she had been traveling "south on Oak St. toward the church." On December 17, 2019, this amended claim was also denied by the City of Inglewood. Collins subsequently filed a complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court on March 27, 2020.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff contended that she tripped and injured herself due to the dangerous condition of the street and sidewalk near Tabernacle Church in the City of Inglewood; that the asphalt was owned, occupied, and controlled by defendant; that defendant should have known of the dangerous condition of the asphalt; that defendant's failure to repair the dangerous condition was negligent; and that defendant allowing the dangerous condition to persist caused her injuries.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendant contended that plaintiff's own negligence caused her injuries; that plaintiff could not identify the alleged dangerous condition that caused her fall; that any defect in the condition of the asphalt or sidewalk was trivial; and that a lack of similar prior incidents supported a finding the alleged dangerous condition did not exist. Defendant also supplied the declaration of an expert, John Brault, that he inspected the area of plaintiff's fall, and the greatest height differential between any pieces of cracked pavement in the area was .25 inches.

Result

The court granted the City of Inglewood's Motion for Summary Judgment finding that Collins had failed to prove that any dangerous condition existed, that any defects were nontrivial, and that the City of Inglewood had actual or constructive notice of any dangerous condition.