Articles Posted in Land Owner Liability

The Indiana Court of Appeals recently found against Amazon in two related cases, one involving personal injury and one involving wrongful death, finding Amazon owed a duty of care to two truck drivers injured on an abutting public road while attempting to deliver goods to one of Amazon’s fulfillment centers. In Oukbu v. Amazon, Mahari Mrach Oukbu (Oukbu) was struck by a vehicle and severely injured after he stopped and exited his truck on a county road along the south side of one of Amazon’s fulfillment centers while attempting to determine how to gain access to the fulfillment center. Around a month and a half later, in Kaur v. Amazon, Harvail Singh Dhillon (Dhillon) was struck and killed by a truck after he stopped and exited his vehicle on the county road while also trying to determine how to gain access to the fulfillment center.

Oukbu and Dhillon were both independent contractors/truck drivers. Neither of them had been to the fulfillment center before and neither were given instructions on how to access the facility’s premises. Amazon only gave them an address and a delivery time. Both Oukbu and Dhillon were injured in the early morning while it was still dark. The fulfillment center had three entrances along the county road. When approaching from the west, as Oukbu and Dhillon both did, the first two entrances had “no truck” signs. The third entrance was for deliveries, but it was 500 feet east of the facility. Oukbu and Dhillon both exited their trucks after passing the second “no truck” sign. Amazon had no signage at the first two entrances informing truck drivers where to go, and truck drivers were often seen getting out of their trucks in the same location. In fact, an Amazon employee told the police that “these lost truck drivers get out of their trucks at this spot every day.”

Oukbu and his wife and the estate of Dhillon filed lawsuits against Amazon. They alleged Amazon was negligent in its maintenance, design, and control of the fulfillment center’s entrances, including the layout and lack of lighting and signage at the entrances, which they claimed created a hazardous condition to business invitees such as Oukbu and Dhillon. Amazon filed motions for judgment on the pleadings, arguing that Amazon did not owe Oukbu and Dhillon any duty of care and that any negligence by Amazon was not the proximate cause of their injuries. The trial court granted Amazon’s motions, finding Amazon had no duty with respect to the negligent acts of someone over whom Amazon had no control and when the injury occurred off Amazon’s premises.

We previously blogged about Indiana’s firefighter’s rule in an Indiana Court of Appeals case, Dolsen v. VeoRide, Inc., wherein the Court of Appeals found the firefighter’s rule did not bar a firefighter’s negligence claim against a possessor of land. In Dolsen, firefighter Richard Dolsen, Jr. (“Dolsen”) was injured when he fell through an open wall into a stairwell at a building leased by VeoRide, Inc. (“VeoRide”), an electric scooter company. One of the batteries VeoRide stored in the building caught fire and when Dolsen entered the building, smoke and a lack of light in the building prevented him from seeing the open wall. While employees of VeoRide were notified of the fire, VeoRide did not provide any warning to Dolsen about the open wall in the building.

The Indiana Supreme Court accepted transfer of the case and clarified Indiana law with respect to Indiana’s firefighter’s rule and Indiana’s first-responder’s rule, with the Court holding they are two separate doctrines. Under Indiana’s firefighter’s rule, originating from Woodruff v. Bowen, 34 N.E. 113 (Ind. 1893), a landowner’s only duty to a firefighter who enters the premises to address a fire is to refrain from positive wrongful acts, with the firefighter treated as a licensee under premise liability principles. Indiana’s firefighter’s rule only applies to firefighters. Indiana’s first-responder’s rule, as set forth in Babes Showclub, Jaba, Inc. v. Lair, 918 N.E.2d 308 (Ind. 2009), applies to both firefighters and other first responders and prevents them from recovering damages based upon negligence that caused the emergency to which they responded when injured.

In analyzing Dolsen’s claims against VeoRide, the Indiana Supreme Court first found that Indiana’s first-responder’s rule does not bar Dolsen’s claims. Dolsen claimed VeoRide was negligent, thus causing his fall, for failing to fix the open wall in the building and for failing to warn him of the danger of the open wall, neither of which were based upon any negligence related to the cause of the fire (the battery). The Court noted that Indiana’s first-responder’s rule was created as a limitation to Indiana’s rescue doctrine, which sets forth the circumstances under which a person needing to be rescued because of his or her own negligence might be liable to the person providing rescue. With the first-responder’s rule, while a person being rescued may potentially be liable to non-professional, spur-of-the-moment rescuers acting voluntarily to help, for negligence causing the emergency itself, no such liability exists with respect to first responders. The Court also noted that contributing factors in the cause of an injury, for example here, the smoke from the fire, were irrelevant, as the “key question” is whether the alleged negligence caused the emergency. As noted by the Court, under the first-responder’s rule, courts look to the act or omission the plaintiff claims was negligent and not whether the emergency contributed to the cause of the injury.

The Indiana Court of Appeals recently found against a church in an Evansville premise liability lawsuit arising out of an injury a volunteer sustained while working on a project on the church’s premises. In Calvary Temple Church of Evansville, Inc. v. Kirsch, Gerard Kirsch (Kirsch), a member and trustee of Calvary Temple Church of Evansville (Calvary), volunteered to lead a project to build a shed on the church’s property to house the church’s van. During the final stages of the project, Kirsch fell off a ladder and lacerated his arm requiring surgery, which resulted in a permanent injury. Kirsch filed a lawsuit against Calvary for negligence resulting in his injury. Calvary moved for summary judgment arguing it was not liable for Kirsch’s injury under Indiana Code § 34-31-7-2, which limits the liability of non-profit religious organizations in premise liability claims. The trial court denied Calvary’s motion and Calvary appealed.

Under Indiana’s common law, a possessor of land is liable to invitees for a condition on land if the landowner (1) knows or with reasonable care would discover the condition and should realize it involves an unreasonable risk of harm, (2) should expect its invitees will not discover or realize the danger or will fail to protect themselves against it, and if the landowner (3) fails to exercise reasonable care to protect its invitees against the danger. However, Indiana’s legislature has enacted special protections for non-profit religious organizations.

Indiana Code § 34-31-7-2 states in relevant part as follows:

The Indiana Court of Appeals recently evaluated the timeliness of claims asserted under Indiana’s Child Wrongful Death Statute (CWDS). In Peters v. Girl Scouts of Southwest Indiana, Inc., Amanda Peters (Mother) filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Girl Scouts of Southwest Indiana (Girl Scouts) after her eleven-year-old daughter Isabelle Meyer was killed when a tree fell and struck her at a camp operated by the Girl Scouts. At the time of Isabelle’s death, Cynthia Meyer (Grandmother) and her husband were co-guardians of Isabelle. After the Girl Scouts filed a motion to dismiss Mother’s lawsuit for failure to join Benjamin Brassard (Father) in the lawsuit, Mother added Father as a defendant to answer as to his interest; however, service was not perfected, and he did not answer, until more than two years after Isabelle’s death. The trial court ultimately denied the motion to dismiss Mother’s claim. Then, almost three years after Isabelle’s death, Mother added Grandmother as a defendant due to her guardianship of Isabelle; however, Grandmother never appeared or filed an answer in the action. The Girl Scouts thereafter filed a motion to dismiss Father’s and Grandmother’s claims as untimely, which the trial court ultimately granted, despite Mother’s argument that their claims were derivative of her timely filed claim.

The CWDS governs actions involving injury or death to children, which the CWDS defines as unmarried individuals without dependents who are less than 20 years of age or less than 23 years of age and enrolled in a postsecondary educational institution or a career and technical education school or program. Ind. Code § 34-23-2-1(b), (c). Actions under the CWDS may be brought by (1) the father and mother jointly, or either of them by naming the other as a codefendant to answer as to his or her interest, (2) in case of divorce or dissolution of marriage, the person to whom custody of the child was awarded, and (3) a guardian, for injury or death to a protected person. Ind. Code § 34-23-2-1(c). In the case of death, damages awarded for loss of the child’s services, love, and companionship, reasonable expenses of psychiatric and psychological counseling of a surviving parent or minor sibling, and uninsured debts of the child inure to the benefit of (1) the father and mother jointly if both parents had custody of the child, (2) the custodial parent, or custodial grandparent, and the noncustodial parent of the deceased child as apportioned by the court, or (3) a custodial grandparent if the child was not survived by a parent entitled to benefit under the CWDS. Ind. Code § 34-23-2-1 (f), (i). Importantly, a CWDS claim must be brought within two years from the date of the child’s death. Ellenwine v. Fairely, 846 N.E.2d 657, 666 (Ind. 2006).

On appeal the Court first noted the “odd procedural posture” of the case and standing issues with regards to the Mother alone appealing the dismissals of the Father’s and Grandmother’s claims. Nonetheless, recognizing it has allowed parties to raise arguments as to the dismissal of other parties when there is prejudice to a party and “some confusion” with regards to the CWDS itself, the Court addressed the merits of the parties’ arguments. The Court noted that service on the Father and his answer occurred more than two years after Isabelle’s death and the Grandmother was not added as a defendant within the two years and never appeared and answered in any case. While Mother argued that neither Father nor Grandmother were required to “bring a claim” to be entitled to an apportionment of damages under the CWDS, the Court found such inconsistent with Indiana’s trial rules and procedures requiring a claim for relief to be made by a party. As such, the Court concluded that, even though the CWDS sets forth an apportionment in their favor, Father and Grandmother were nonetheless required to assert a claim as to any damages, and the two-year time period for them to do so under the CWDS had passed, thereby making their claims properly subject to dismissal. The Court found the trial court did not abuse its discretion and affirmed on appeal.

The Indiana Supreme Court recently issued a decision in a case involving a woman who was injured while swimming in a health and fitness center’s pool. The case, Pennington v. Memorial Hospital of South Bend, Inc., raised several issues of premises liability and negligence against the pool owner, operator, and designers.

The plaintiff, Dr. Jennifer Pennington, was a member of the fitness center owned and operated by Memorial Hospital of South Bend, doing business as Beacon Health and Fitness. The fitness center had a rectangular, multi-purpose swimming pool that was designed by Panzica Building Corporation and Spear Corporation. The pool had a long ramp and a concrete “wing-wall” on one side, separating the ramp from the main swimming area. The wing-wall had a gap at the bottom, allowing swimmers to pass through, and another shorter wing-wall at the end of the pool near the entry steps. The wing-walls were designed to sit at the pool’s water level through an automatic leveling mechanism. The ends of the wing-walls were unpadded, and no floating lane divider was placed across the gap. However, backstroke pennants were strung above and across the width of the pool approximately fifteen feet from each end.

Dr. Pennington visited the pool during its first week of operation and swam several laps of various strokes in the lane adjacent to the wing-walls. After switching from freestyle to backstroke, she collided with the corner of the wing-wall by the entry steps, causing her injury.

The Indiana Court of Appeals recently revived a personal injury claim involving the legal doctrine of res ipsa loquitur and its applicability in the premise liability context. In Isgrig v. Trustees of Indiana University, Kiera Isgrig (“Isgrig”) was injured while studying in a building at Indiana University Bloomington (IU) when a window, which she and her friends had not tampered with, fell out of the wall and landed on Isgrig’s head, leaving shattered glass over her and the table she was sitting at. An IU employee came and examined the window. The employee noted the window could be partially opened when in its casing and other than two broken sash springs, which the employee believed would not have caused the window to fall out of its casing without warning, the employee did not find any other damage to the window and no reason to explain what happened, other than possible tampering at some point prior to the incident. The last time IU had performed maintenance on the window was around a year prior when it repaired the window’s blinds. IU did not perform any preventative, as opposed to reactive, maintenance on the window.

Isgrig filed a lawsuit against IU for her injuries relying on the legal doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, which translated from Latin means “the thing speaks for itself.” The doctrine allows an inference of negligence in situations where the nature of the incident is such that the person having control over the situation was likely negligent, even though no particular negligent act can be shown. To get an inference of negligence against a defendant with res ipsa loquitur in Indiana, a claimant must show (1) that the injuring instrumentality was within the exclusive management and control of the defendant, and (2) the incident is of the type that ordinarily does not happen if those who have management or control exercise proper care. As to the element of exclusive control, it is exclusive control over the injuring instrumentality at the time of the alleged negligent act or injury, with the focus on who had the right or power to control and the opportunity to exercise the control.

Here, in response to Isgrig’s lawsuit, IU moved for summary judgment in the trial court arguing that even with res ipsa loquitur Isgrig still had to establish its liability under premise liability law by proving it had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition of the window, which it argued it did not have, and that it did not otherwise have exclusive control of the window, making res ipsa loquitur inapplicable. The trial court ruled in favor of IU and Isgrig appealed.

The Indiana Court of Appeals recently reviewed Indiana’s “firefighter’s rule,” ultimately ruling in favor of a firefighter injured while responding to a building fire in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In Dolsen v. VeoRide, Inc., firefighter Richard Dolsen, Jr. (“Dolsen”) responded to a fire at a building owned by Sweet Real Estate – City Center, LLC (“Sweet”) and leased to VeoRide, Inc. (“VeoRide”). VeoRide, an electric scooter company, stored scooters, batteries, and battery equipment at the building. One of the batteries ignited, causing the fire. While no VeoRide employees were at the building when the fire started, VeoRide and Sweet employees were notified of the fire and knew firefighters were responding to the fire. Dolsen, who had never been in the building before, could not see as he entered the building due to a lack of light and smoke, and as he was moving around the perimeter of the building, he fell through an open wall comprised of bare wooden studs, falling into a stairwell. At the time of the incident, Dolsen had a radio, such that any warning sent by VeoRide or Sweet could have quickly and easily been conveyed to him. Dolsen testified over his career there had been many occasions where commercial building owners or tenants would alert the fire department about potential dangers inside buildings, such as holes in floors.

Dolsen filed a personal injury lawsuit against VeoRide and Sweet alleging negligence in the handling of the batteries at the building and in failing to warn Dolsen about the opening in the wall. VeoRide filed a motion for summary judgment arguing Dolsen’s claims were barred by Indiana’s firefighter’s rule. Sweet filed a motion for summary judgment arguing it could not be held liable since it had given full possession and control of the building to VeoRide. The trial court granted both motions for summary judgment, finding Dolsen’s claims were barred by Indiana’s firefighter’s rule. Dolsen appealed the trial court’s order only with respect to VeoRide.

On appeal, the Court of Appeals reviewed Indiana Supreme Court precedent on Indiana’s firefighter’s rule. According to that precedent, Indiana’s firefighter’s rule bars any claim by a professional emergency responder for any negligent conduct that created the emergency responded to. As such, with regards to Dolsen’s claim arising from any negligence by VeoRide in handling the battery that caused the fire, the Court held that such claim was barred by the firefighter’s rule. However, as noted by the Court, Indiana’s firefighter’s rule does not bar a claim when an injury is caused by conduct separate and apart from the conduct that contributed to the emergency, even if that conduct occurred prior to the emergency responder arriving on the scene. Here, Dolsen also alleged VeoRide was negligent in failing to warn him of the dangers associated with the open wall next to the stairwell. The Court found such claim was separate from and independent of any negligent conduct causing the fire, and therefore, was not barred by Indiana’s firefighter’s rule.

The Indiana Court of Appeals recently affirmed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a homeowner in a claim against the homeowner arising from a guest’s fall on an icy sidewalk adjacent to the homeowner’s property. In Stanley v. Burns, Andrea Burns (Burns) worked for a direct sales company and invited numerous women on her team, including Erin Harrell Stanley (“Stanley”), to her home to watch a planned YouTube live corporate broadcast. On the night of the broadcast in December 2019, the weather had been “frosty,” but it had not snowed. Burns did not check the driveway or sidewalk at her home to see whether they were safe for her guests. Stanley arrived at Burns’ home around 7:20 P.M. and at that time it was dark outside. Since Burns’ driveway was full, Stanley parked on the street. Stanley got out of her vehicle and walked “three or four steps” on the road-side sidewalk towards Burns’ driveway and slipped and fell on ice, injuring her left leg. Stanley filed a premise liability lawsuit against Burns and her husband.

To prevail in a negligence claim, a plaintiff must show (1) a duty owed by the defendant to the plaintiff, (2) breach of that duty, and (3) damages proximately caused by the breach of duty. Absent a duty, there can be no negligence. Burns moved for summary judgment in the trial court, designating as evidence Stanley’s deposition and a plat of survey of Burns’ property to show that the road-side sidewalk in front of Burns’ house was outside Burns’ property. Burns argued she was entitled to summary judgment because she had no common law duty to clear the public sidewalk where Stanley fell and the local ordinance that required her to clear the public sidewalk did not create a private right of action that Stanley could enforce against her. The trial court agreed and granted summary judgment in favor of Burns, and Stanley appealed that decision.

On appeal, the Indiana Court of Appeals first addressed Stanley’s argument that Burns had a common law duty to clear the sidewalk because Burns “controlled the premises.” Under Section 343 of the Second Restatement of Torts, which Indiana had adopted, a possessor of land is subject to liability for physical harm to invitees caused by a condition on the land when the possessor (a) knows or by the exercise of reasonable care would discover the condition, and should realize it involves an unreasonable risk of harm to such invitees, (b) should expect that such invitees will not discover or realize the danger, or will fail to protect themselves against it, and (c) fails to exercise reasonable care to protect such invitees against the danger. However, the Court of Appeals noted that Section 343 of the Second Restatement of Torts does not define the scope of “the land” or what it means to be a “possessor of land,” there was no genuine issue of material fact that Stanley fell on the road-side public sidewalk that abutted, but was outside of, Burns’ property, and under well-established Indiana law, an owner or occupant of property abutting a public street or sidewalk has no duty to clear such streets or sidewalks of snow or ice. Accordingly, the Court found Burns did not owe any common law duty to Stanley to clear the sidewalk of ice.

The Indiana Court of Appeals recently reversed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a music venue security company alleged to have caused a crowd surfer’s injuries in a fall. In Wiley v. ESG Sec., Inc., Seth Wiley (Wiley), a minor at the time, was crowd surfing during a “punk rock” concert at the Murat in Indianapolis, Indiana. ESG Security, Inc. (ESG) was contracted by Live Nation to provide security at the concert. “Bicycle racks” were placed between the stage and the crowd with several ESG personnel stationed between the racks and the stage. Various concertgoers were crowd surfing during the concert, including Wiley on three or four occasions prior to his fall. On prior occasions, ESG personnel helped Wiley to the ground after he reached the front of the audience and was passed over the racks. However, the last time he crowd surfed the crowd moved him to the front of the audience when there were no ESG personnel to support him down, as they were attending to another concertgoer, and he fell and sustained injuries.

Wiley sued various parties for his personal injuries, including ESG. Under Indiana law, to recover in a negligence case, a plaintiff must show (1) the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care, (2) the defendant breached that duty, and (3) the defendant’s breach proximately caused the plaintiff’s injuries. Generally, the existence of a duty is a question of law for courts to decide.

ESG filed a motion for summary judgment arguing it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law as it did not owe Wiley a duty of care and Wiley incurred the risk of his injuries. While the contract between ESG and Live Nation stated that ESG would “exert reasonable… efforts to protect all persons who enter [the venue] from… personal injury from any causes whatsoever,” ESG argued that language only applied to risks of which a concertgoer would not be aware or warned against and such did not mean ESG had to protect concertgoers from their own negligent acts. There were signs posted throughout the venue, and an audio message repeatedly played, that crowd surfing was prohibited and those who crowd surfed did so at their own risk and were subject to expulsion.

The Indiana Court of Appeals recently affirmed a jury’s $510,000 award in favor of an injured woman in a slip-and-fall case in Indianapolis, Indiana. In Mastellone v. Young Men’s Christian Ass’n of Greater Indianapolis, Jacqueline Mastellone (“Mastellone”) slipped and fell at an Indianapolis YMCA as she was walking back to a locker room after a swim class. The area where she fell did not have a slip-resistant mat. As part of a facility upgrade, the YMCA later replaced the flooring where Mastellone fell. Mastellone dislocated and fractured her left shoulder in the fall, which required a shoulder replacement, and she sued the YMCA for her injuries and damages.

The jury returned a verdict in favor of Mastellone calculating her total damages at $850,000, which was reduced to $510,000 based upon finding her 40% at fault and the YMCA 60% at fault. Prior to trial, the YMCA filed a motion in limine to exclude evidence as to the new floor installation. The trial court ordered it would allow evidence of the new floor installation, but it would not allow evidence that the flooring was changed. During trial, when Mastellone’s counsel asked a YMCA employee whether the flooring had been replaced, YMCA’s counsel objected, arguing the evidence was irrelevant and prejudicial. After the trial court indicated it would allow the question, YMCA’s counsel moved for a mistrial, which the trial court denied. In response to the question from Mastellone’s counsel, the YMCA employee testified the flooring had been replaced. YMCA’s counsel then elicited testimony that the flooring was not changed due to the fall but a facility upgrade. After the jury had reached a verdict but before reentering the courtroom, YMCA’s counsel then moved for a second mistrial after learning a piece of the flooring where Mastellone fell had not been sent back to the jury room. The trial court denied the second motion for mistrial because the jury had the opportunity to examine the flooring after it had been admitted as evidence.

After the jury verdict was read, the trial court stated it would enter judgement on the verdict, and then the trial court noted the entry of judgment on the docket, or chronological case summary (CCS). However, three days after the verdict, the trial court sua sponte (i.e., of its own accord) issued an Order Reconsidering Motion for Mistrial setting aside the jury’s verdict and the judgement. In its Order Reconsidering Motion for Mistrial, the trial court did not state which of the two motions for mistrial it had reconsidered, and it did not provide any reasoning. Mastellone appealed the Order Reconsidering Motion for Mistrial and the YMCA cross appealed arguing the trial court erred in denying its two mistrial motions and the verdict was excessive.

Contact Information