Gonzales v. City of San Jose

Plaintiff Joanne D. Gonzales and defendant City of San Jose appeal a judgment following the trial court’s grant of defendant Charles Huang’s motion for summary judgment.

This case involves a personal injury suit resulting from a slip and fall accident that occurred on a sidewalk owned by the City of San Jose. The plaintiff sued not only the City of San Jose, who owned the sidewalk she fell on, but also Charles Huang, the individual who owned the property adjacent to and abutting the sidewalk. The plaintiff sued Huang on the theory that he had a common law duty to her to maintain the sidewalk in a nondangerous condition, as well as a duty imposed under San Jose Municipal Code section 14.16.2205, which makes owners of property abutting city owned sidewalks liable to those who are injured as a result of unsafe conditions on the sidewalks.

The trial court concluded that San Jose Municipal Code section 14.16.2205 is preempted by state law and is therefore unconstitutional, because the State of California occupies the field of tort liability on public property. The trial court also found there was no triable issue of material fact to demonstrate that Huang had sufficient…