Arizona Supreme Court says stores have duty to be ‘reasonably safe’ for customers

PHOENIX – The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that businesses have a duty to keep their stores “reasonably safe” for customers.

As a result, a lawsuit involving a woman who was injured after tripping over a display at a Circle K was sent back to trial court.

Roxanne Perez sued the convenience store after tripping over a case of water set at the end of an aisle while she was shopping for ice cream in March 2020.

Perez said she didn’t see the water and claimed Circle K was responsible for damages.

The store’s motion for summary judgement was granted by a lower court on the grounds that the display was “open and obvious” and therefore not “unreasonably dangerous.”

Arizona Supreme Court ruling reinforces business owners’ duty

The Arizona Supreme Court disagreed with the lower court decision, but that doesn’t mean Perez won her lawsuit.

Instead, the high court ruled that Perez should have a chance to present evidence of Circle K’s negligence in court and let a jury decide if the store should be held liable.

The unanimous decision is significant beyond this case because it reinforced business owners’ legal duty to keep stores reasonably safe for customers.

“We conclude that whether Circle K’s store display was an unreasonably dangerous tripping hazard had no bearing on that duty issue,” Chief Justice Ann Timmer wrote in Wednesday’s opinion.

Another noteworthy element of the case is unrelated to legal matters. It was the first time the Arizona Supreme Court used one of its new AI court news reporters in a video providing information to the public about a ruling.

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