Case Title: Hall v. Duke

Citation: 513 S.W.2d 776

Docket Number: 

State: tennessee

Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

Date: 1974-07-22T00:00:00Z

Document:
513 S.W.2d 776 (1974) Philenia HALL, Petitioner, v. Gertrude DUKE, Respondent. Supreme Court of Tennessee. July 22, 1974. L. Dean Moore, and Jon E. Jones, Cookeville, for petitioner. T. Eugene Jared, and James D. Madewell, Cookeville, for respondent. W.M. LEECH, Special Justice. This is a tort action that arose as the result of the plaintiff breaking her foot when the porch swing belonging to the defendant accidently fell on it. The case was tried before a jury in the Putnam County Circuit Court. At the conclusion of the plaintiff's proof and again at the conclusion of all the proof, defendant moved for a directed verdict. In each instance the motion was overruled. Subsequently the cause was submitted to the jury and they returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of $2,500.00. As a result of said verdict, defendant filed *777 a motion for a new trial which was denied. An appeal was then taken to the Court of Appeals contending in part that as a matter of law the plaintiff was a social guest, therefore; since there was no evidence that the defendant was grossly negligent the trial court erred in not directing the verdict in favor of the defendant. The Court of Appeals sustained the trial court, holding that the plaintiff was an invitee to whom the defendant owed a duty of ordinary care, therefore; since there was proof that defendant negligently maintained her porch swing there was no error. Thereupon, defendant petitioned this Court for the Writ of Certiorari which we granted. The sole issue before this Court is whether plaintiff, Gertrude Duke, was a social guest or licensee, who can not recover herein, or an invitee, who can. A brief review of the facts will be helpful in resolving the foregoing issue: The parties were widows and close neighbors, living in Silver Point, Tennessee. They lived alone and visited and ate together often. On this occasion the defendant invited the plaintiff to come over and have supper and visit with her sister-in-law while she went to Wednesday evening church service. Plaintiff says she was invited over "to stay with Mrs. Smith," the sister-in-law. In any event, she went, ate supper, and then went out on the porch and sat on a porch swing next to Mrs. Smith. After about an hour, during which they looked at a Sears-Roebuck Catalog, the chain at plaintiff's end of the swing broke and the swing fell on her foot and ankle, injuring it. Essentially, the case turned at the trial and in the Court of Appeals on the two ways of stating the invitation: "Come over and have supper and visit," or "Come over and have supper and stay with Hattie while I go to church." Both the trial court and the Court of Appeals held that the latter invitation made the defendant liable even though it was between life-long friends who were constantly in each other's homes; which were separated by only a small vacant lot. The thinking was that this invitation met the test laid down in Roberts v. Tennessee Wesleyan College, 60 Tenn. App. 624, 450 S.W.2d 21 (1969), as follows: However, this Court does not agree. We reach this conclusion in part because Hattie Smith was in good health having no physical infirmities which would require anyone's attention. Moreover, Silver Point is a small rural community relatively free from crime, with no proof of any endemic violence. The church was in sight of defendant's home. So, the only possible "benefit" to defendant was the same social benefit anyone enjoys when social favor is done; without "benefit" even being thought of by either party at the time. The disagreement between this Court and the Court of Appeals results from the ambiguous phrase "to go on premises in the interest of or for the benefit, real or supposed, of the occupant, or in the matter of mutual interest, or in the usual course of business, or be on the premises in the performance of an official duty." In order to clarify this ambiguity, it will be helpful to examine the per curium opinion of Walker v. Williams, 215 Tenn. 195, 384 S.W.2d 447 (1964), wherein we said: *778 In reaching this holding, The American Law Institute Restatement of Torts, Section 331 was cited as authority. Therefore, to help determine what makes one an invitee, as opposed to a social guest or licensee, we will examine the Restatement (Second) of Torts, §§ 330-31 (1965). Section 330 defines a licensee as follows: In the comment following this definition, the persons included within this classification, among others, are specified as follows: The foregoing is in accord with our holding in the Williams case, supra. The Restatement (Second) of Torts goes on to define an invitee in section 332. Therein the following definition is found: Following this definition Comment a states that: With sections 331, 332 and the quoted comments in mind, we conclude that in this jurisdiction in order to find that a person is an invitee, said person must be on the owner's land for either a public or business purpose. Under this holding one can be an invitee even though no pecuniary benefit is to be found. The key test under this holding is whether the person is invited to transact business or to do work with the implied or expressed assurance that the place is prepared and safe for him. If, however, one is on private premises not normally open to the public, to volunteer assistance, although said assistance confers benefit, he is to be treated as a licensee, unless the circumstances indicate that he could reasonably expect protection in return for the services. In the instant case, it is clear that the plaintiff did not come to the defendant's home for any public or business purpose. Moreover, there is not a scintilla of evidence in the record to show that the plaintiff reasonably expected any protection other than that which would have been afforded any member of the defendant's household. The following quotation from W. Prosser, Law of Torts 378 (4th ed. 1971), fairly summarizes this Court's holding herein: Having so held, it necessarily follows that both the Court of Appeals and the trial court were in error. It results, therefore, that this cause is reversed and remanded to the trial court for action consistent with this opinion. DYER, C.J., and CHATTIN, McCANLESS and FONES, JJ., concur. Respondent, Gertrude Duke, has filed an earnest petition to rehear wherein she contends, in part, that this Court has overlooked several prior Tennessee decisions, and as a result, said prior decisions were effectively overruled. Several cases are cited as overlooked, however, in fact only the case of Garis v. Eberling, 18 Tenn. App. 1, 71 S.W.2d 215 (1934), was not considered when we originally decided this case. Having studied the case, it is clear that it adds no new authority. In fact, the language used therein is remarkably similar *780 to the language found in the cases previously cited to this Court. Moreover, Respondent makes no new argument based on Eberling, but merely reiterates her prior contentions. The foregoing is no basis for a petition to rehear. See, e.g., Mitchell v. Garrett, 510 S.W.2d 894 (Tenn. 1974). Respondent further contends that the instant decision places this jurisdiction in the minority, in that we have adopted the "economic benefit" test. Respondent has apparently misconstrued our original opinion, and a careful reading of the opinion and authorities cited therein discloses that we did in fact apply the majority rule based upon the facts of this case. In W. Prosser's, treatise, Law of Torts 386-87 (4th ed. 1971), the minority rule is succinctly examined and defined as follows: We did not adopt the foregoing rule. In fact, we specifically stated that under our holding "one can be an invitee even though no pecuniary benefit is to be found". (Emphasis added). We also stated that "[t]he key test under this holding is whether the person is invited ... with the implied or express assurance that the place is prepared and safe for him". These statements and our holding herein are in accord with "the great majority of the courts ..." See generally, W. Prosser, Law of Torts 389 (4th ed. 1971). Moreover, the Second Restatement of Torts § 330 et seq. which we adopted in this case, is in accord with this rule. See, W. Prosser, Law of Torts 391 (4th ed. 1971). It is therefore apparent that Respondent's contention, which stated that this Court by adopting the Second Restatement of Torts adopted the minority economics benefit rule, is erroneous. It results, therefore; any previous cases notwithstanding, that we do not reverse our previous decision herein, but reaffirm said decision which is in accord with the majority of other jurisdictions. The petition to rehear is denied. DYER, C.J., and CHATTIN, McCANLESS and FONES, JJ., concur.