The highest court in Massachusetts has ruled that property owners potentially can be held liable for snow-related injuries whether the accumulations are caused by Mother Nature or by plows.

The Supreme Judicial Court on Monday eliminated a distinction in state law between "natural" and "unnatural" accumulations of snow and ice.

The court ruled in the case of a Peabody man who broke his pelvis after falling on ice in front of a Target store in Danvers.

A lawsuit filed by Emanuel Papadopoulos was thrown out because a judge ruled the ice he slipped on was a natural accumulation.

Under previous case law, property owners who failed to remove natural accumulations could not be held liable.

But the SJC found owners have a duty to keep property reasonably safe. (AP)