By: Associated Press//July 29, 2014//
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A state appeals court has rejected a lawsuit filed against the University of Wisconsin-Stout heads groundskeeper by a student who fractured her ankle after slipping on ice.
The 3rd District Court of Appeals on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit brought by Amber Malean. She sued UW-Stout grounds supervisor Mike Smith, alleging he was negligent in not clearing an ice patch leading to a campus building on Jan. 30, 2012.
But the appeals court says Smith is protected from being sued by a law granting public officials immunity.
Additionally, the appeals court says there was no evidence that Smith knew of the ice patch on which Malean was injured. The court says it would be “manifestly unfair” to require a public official to react to a situation they didn’t know about.