Cardenas v. West Coast Arborists, Inc.
Plaintiff claimed that she tripped and fell due to an uplifted sidewalk in unincorporated Los Angeles County while walking to work. Thereafter, Plaintiff testified that she tripped on a tree root in the adjacent parkway and fell onto the sidewalk.
Plaintiff underwent multiple procedures and operations on her knee and foot stemming from the incident. After several requests that Plaintiff dismiss defendant West Coast Arborists (WCA) from the matter, which were not responded to, WCA filed its motion. Notably, the complaint only alleged a cause of action for a dangerous condition of public property against WCA.
WCA presented facts that it was not the owner of the subject property or a public entity. Alternatively, WCA argued that even if plaintiff was to amend her complaint to add a negligence cause of action against WCA, the claim would still fail since WCA’s duty was based on its contract with the City and did not extend to members of the general public including plaintiff.