Pierino Perciballi and Brigida R. Perciballi v. Mountain Creek Resort Inc.; Mountain Creek Management, LLC; Great Gorge; Snow Creek, LLC D/B/A Mountain Creek Resort, Inc.; Snow Operating, LLC; Snow Partners, LLC; John Doe Ski Resort Operators (1-5); John Doe Ski Resort Maintenance Companies (1-5); John Doe Ski Resort Inspection and Safety Companies (1-5)

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey denied Mountain Creek’s motion for summary judgment in a negligence action arising from a skier’s collision with fencing at Mountain Creek Resort. The court found factual disputes concerning whether Mountain Creek had constructive notice of allegedly sagging or downed fencing and whether the resort’s course design and management were negligent under the New Jersey Ski Statute. The court also allowed the plaintiff’s derivative loss-of-consortium claim to proceed.

Holdings

1. Summary judgment was denied because a reasonable jury could find that Mountain Creek had constructive notice of an obvious fencing hazard and failed to act as required by the New Jersey Ski Statute.
2. Summary judgment was denied because plaintiffs presented sufficient evidence to allow a jury to consider whether the resort's course design and management contributed to the accident, and because the statutory protection for ordinary ski-area equipment did not necessarily immunize a hazardous condition that developed after installation.
3. The loss-of-consortium claim survived because it is derivative of the injured spouse's tort claim, and the underlying negligence claims survived summary judgment.

Questions Presented

1. Whether defendants were entitled to summary judgment on plaintiffs' claim that Mountain Creek violated its duties under the New Jersey Ski Statute by failing to remove or correct an allegedly hazardous sagging or downed fence.
2. Whether defendants were entitled to summary judgment on plaintiffs' negligent course-design and resort-management theory.
3. Whether Brigida Perciballi's loss-of-consortium claim survived summary judgment because the underlying tort claim survived.

Disposition

other