De minimis rule for tripping hazard at Metra station misfires

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted June 18, 2018 12:31 PM

Arguing that aggravating circumstances trumped the 2-inch standard that is sometimes applied to tripping hazards as a defense under the de minimis rule, Hollace Bartkowiak objected to the city of Aurora’s request for a special interrogatory on the height differential of a depression — a deterioration at the seam of two strips of asphalt — that allegedly caused her nasty fall during what she described as the “total madhouse” of evening rush hour in the parking lot at the Route 59 Metra train …

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