Case Title: Hammond v. Allegretti

Citation: 311 N.E.2d 821

Docket Number: 674S110

State: indiana

Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Date: 1974-06-06T00:00:00Z

Document:
311 N.E.2d 821 (1974)
Verna HAMMOND, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
M.L. ALLEGRETTI, M.D., et al., Defendants-Appellees.
No. 674S110.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
June 6, 1974.
*822 Saul I. Ruman, Hammond, for plaintiff-appellant.
Robert D. Hawk, Spangler, Jennings, Spangler & Dougherty, Gary, for defendants-appellees.
HUNTER, Justice.
The plaintiff-petitioner filed suit in Lake Circuit Court seeking damages for injuries sustained as a result of a slip and fall upon defendant-respondent, Hammond Clinic's, icy parking lot. The cause was then venued to the Porter Superior Court. Upon defendant's motion, judgment on the evidence was entered by the trial court at the conclusion of plaintiff's case in chief. The Court of Appeals affirmed.
This case presents the following question of law: What duty of care does a landowner-inviter owe to a business invitee with respect to the natural accumulation of ice and snow on the landowner's private parking lot adjacent to his place of business?
The Court of Appeals, per Judge Hoffman, relying primarily on the case of Kalicki v. Beacon Bowl, Inc. (1968), 143 Ind. *823 App. 132, 238 N.E.2d 673, held that a landowner-inviter does not owe a duty to a business invitee to clear the natural accumulation of snow and ice from an open-air parking lot. The Court, however, stated that only if the landowner-inviter "creates a more dangerous condition than would otherwise be attributable to the natural accumulation of ice and snow will liability be imposed."
The Court of Appeals summarized the facts of the case as follows:
We find the Court of Appeals' decision (and the decision in Kalicki) to be entirely inconsistent with the bedrock principles of occupier's liability. For this reason, we have granted transfer to delineate the proper rule of law and, in so doing, expressly overrule Kalicki.
The duty owed by a landowner-inviter to a business invitee was formulated by the English Court of Common Pleas in the landmark case of Indermaur v. Dames (1866), L.R. 1, C.P. 274, 35 L.J.C.P. 184, aff'm'd. L.R. 2 C.P. 311, 36 L.J.C.P. 181.
Indermaur has become a coernerstone of occupier's liability law in all American common law jurisdictions. The Restatement of Torts (Second) § 343 (1965) has incorporated the English rule:
Dean Prosser characterizes the nature of the landowner's duty vis-a-vis an invitee as follows:
The venerable Indermaur principle is also firmly imbedded in the decisional law of Indiana  which, to us, makes the Court of Appeals' decisions in this and the Kalicki case all the more remarkable. This Court defined the legal duty owed by a business-landowner to a business-invitee as early as 1884:
See also: Indiana, Bloomington and Western Railway Co., et al. v. Barnhart (1888), 115 Ind. 399, 16 N.E. 121; William, Laurie Co. v. McCullough (1910), 174 Ind. 477, 90 N.E. 1014; East Hill Cemetery Co. of Rushville v. Thompson (1912), 53 Ind. App. 417, 97 N.E. 1036 (landowner owes an affirmative duty to a business invitee).
Judge Emmert, writing for a unanimous court in the case of Robertson Bros. Dept. Store v. Stanley (1950), 228 Ind. 372, 90 N.E.2d 809, cites the following line of authority in support of the proposition that a business-landowner owes a duty of ordinary reasonable care to maintain business premises in a reasonably safe condition:
In light of the foregoing discussion, one is inescapably led to the conclusion that a landowner or occupier is under a duty to exercise reasonable care for the protection of invitees on the business premises. This duty arises as a matter of law. The question of whether the defendant-landowner exercised the requisite degree of care is strictly a question for the trier of fact. Robertson Bros., supra, 228 Ind. at 381, 90 N.E.2d 809.
The Court of Appeals and the appellee concede that the above general rules have continued vitality. However, the Court of Appeals in both this case and Kalicki carves out an exception to the sound principle of law first enunciated in Indermaur and later zealously followed in the courts of Indiana. That exception is that an owner or occupier of property is under no duty as a matter of law to remove natural (as distinguished from unnatural) accumulations of snow and ice from an open-air parking lot owned or occupied by the inviter. *826 Although this position is supported by ample authority from other jurisdictions,[1] we believe it to be repugnant to the foundational principles of common law occupier's liability.
It is important, at this point, to emphasize that this case involves a private parking lot adjacent to a medical clinic. It does not involve a public sidewalk or public parking area. Our decision in this case should be limited to its facts and no others. Two cases upon which the Court of Appeals relied involve sidewalk accidents. In the public sidewalk cases, there are additional factors which are not present in this case  those being municipal ordinances requiring abutting owners or occupiers to remove ice or snow and the common law duty of municipalities to maintain reasonably safe streets and sidewalks.[2] In the case at bar, the Hammond Clinic maintained exclusive private dominion over the adjacent parking area.
We must emphasize that we are not advocating the imposition of strict liability in this case, nor are we suggesting that there be an inflexible rule requiring that a business inviter immediately remove the natural accumulation of ice and snow from his business premises. What we are advocating is that there be a duty imposed upon the landowner-inviter to exercise reasonable care in the maintenance of business premises. This duty should obtain as a matter of law in all cases arising out of the inviter-invitee context. Ultimate legal liability is, of course, another matter, separate and distinct from the existence of a legal duty. There will be situations when the natural accumulation of ice and snow will render the inviter liable, and others when it will not. The critical point to be made is that the condition of the premises and the actions taken or not taken by the inviter and invitee must all be considered by the trier of fact in determining the existence or non-existence of legal liability. To preclude the trier of fact's consideration of the condition of the premises at the time of the accident is to unnecessarily and unjustifiably dilute a well-established principle of tort law.
In our judgment, the dilution of the inviter's duty undermines the basic principles of public responsibility. If the inviter is absolved of all responsibility, vis-a-vis privately operated parking lots, who, then, will remove the natural accumulation of ice and snow when such accumulations become hazardous? Clearly, the removal of ice and snow from private parking lots is not the responsibility of a municipality or the state, and is it not highly probable that at some point in time the natural accumulation of ice and snow will create hazardous conditions? Our society is largely predicated on an allocation of duties and responsibilities among its members and government. This allocation enables us to achieve a reasonable degree of order, predictability and accountability. Of course, this allocation or distribution of burdens should be equitable and reasonable.
We are unable to discern any reason why the responsibility for maintaining reasonably safe business premises should not be placed upon the shoulders of an inviter. The business inviter holds out the premises for the use of invitees and derives a direct benefit from their presence thereon. Surely, the distribution of such a burden to an inviter  particularly in light of the benefits derived and the state's lack of dominion, *827 does not constitute an unreasonable or inequitable allocation.
There is substantial authority from other jurisdictions to support our position.[3] However, we find the Alaska Supreme Court's decision in Kremer v. Carr's Food Center, Inc. (1969), 462 P.2d 747, to be particularly germane. The following are excerpts from the opinion which we believe to be dispositive of the issues in this case.
"In reaching these conclusions, we have rejected Carr's contention that no cause of action can be maintained by a business invitee against a landowner for injury resulting from a slip and fall occasioned by natural accumulations of ice and snow. We have also declined to adopt Carr's argument to the effect that any duty of care owed by a possessor of land to a business invitee is discharged by virtue of the invitee's knowledge of the dangerous condition of the land. Finally, our holding in the case at bar reflects the view that none of our own prior precedents preclude the result reached here.
"Thus far the natural-unnatural accumulation of ice and snow rule has been limited to cases involving the duty owed by municipalities to licensees who, as a class, must take the condition of the land as the possessor himself uses it. We decline to extend this rule to the business invitee-private possessor of land situation. Unlike the licensee, the invitee enters upon the possessor's land accompanied by an implied representation that `the land has been prepared and made ready and safe for his reception.' A business invitee may be entitled to the undertaking of affirmative steps by the possessor of land in order to promote the invitee's safety. We discern a significant distinction between the standard of care which is owed by municipalities in Alaska to licensees upon their streets and sidewalks, and that owed by private possessors of land, such as Carr's, to a business invitee. Alaska's climatic conditions do not metamorphize all risks arising from ice and snow conditions into reasonable risks for the business invitee. Nor are we persuaded by appellee Carr's policy argument that in Alaska it would result in unreasonable costs to the private-commercial possessor of land to require the possessor to clear ice and snow, or otherwise remedy conditions which amount to unreasonable risks of harm to its business invitees. The mere fact that snow and ice conditions prevail for many months throughout various locations in Alaska is not in and of itself sufficient rationale for the insulation of the possessor of land from liability to his business invitee. Nor do such climatic conditions negate the possibility that the possessor should have anticipated harm to the business invitee despite the latter's personal knowledge of the dangerous snow and ice conditions or the general obviousness of such conditions." (emphasis added) 462 P.2d  at 750-752.
In conclusion, the duty of reasonable care owed by an inviter to an invitee should in no way be diminished by the *828 presence of natural accumulations of ice and snow. The trier of fact in determining whether the inviter engaged in substandard conduct proximately resulting in injury to the invitee, i.e., whether the inviter is legally liable, should consider the existence of natural and unnatural accumulations of ice and snow. Of course, the trier of fact should take into account a vast range of evidence, to include facts establishing assumption of risk and contributory negligence. All of these factors must be considered in arriving at a determination of liability or non-liability.
For all the foregoing reasons, transfer is hereby granted and the cause remanded to the trial court for the determination of whether the defendant-inviter exercised reasonable and ordinary care with respect to the condition of the adjacent parking lot.
Reversed and remanded with instructions.
ARTERBURN, C.J., and DeBRULER, J., concur.
GIVAN, J., dissents with opinion in which PRENTICE, J., concurs.
GIVAN, Justice (dissenting).
I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion in this case.
I completely agree with the opinion of the Court of Appeals found at 288 N.E.2d 197.
The majority opinion in this case sees fit to deviate from the weight of authority throughout the country and in so doing is establishing a most difficult responsibility upon the owners of private business parking lots. The rule of law which this opinion overturns has been based upon the realistic recognition that the average person is well aware of such natural hazards as rain, snow and ice; that the accumulation of these elements is readily discernible to the casual observer, and that all persons must proceed with reasonable caution when obviously hazardous conditions prevail. C.J. Hoffman of the Court of Appeals has correctly followed the weight of authority in this and other jurisdictions in this regard.
I would not disturb that decision.
PRENTICE, J., concurs.
[1]  Crawford v. Soennichsen (1963), 175 Neb. 87, 120 N.W.2d 578; Crenshaw v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Company (1963), 72 N.M. 84, 380 P.2d 828; Hallett v. Furr's, Inc. (1963), 71 N.M. 377, 378 P.2d 613; Watts v. Holmes (1963 Wyo.), 386 P.2d 718; Wise v. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (1953), 94 Ohio App. 320, 115 N.E.2d 33; Zide v. Jewel Tea Company (1963), 188 N.E.2d 383, 39 Ill. App.2d 217.
[2]  See: Cowin v. Sears, Roebuck and Co. (1955), 125 Ind. App. 624, 129 N.E.2d 131; Nyers v. Gruber (1971), Ind. App., 275 N.E.2d 863.
[3]  A. Isaacson v. Husson College (1972), 297 A.2d 98: The Supreme Court of Maine held that it was a jury question whether the University used sufficient care in clearing a pathway between a dorm and dining hall. That court, however, specifically limited the application of the enunciated rule to the college situation and noted that it would not apply to the passer-by situation.

B. Langhorne Road Apts., Inc. v. Bisson (1966) 207 Va. 474, 150 S.E.2d 540, involving a landlord and tenant. The Supreme Court of Virginia held that a landlord had a duty to remove the accumulation of snow within a reasonable period of time.
C. Nelson v. Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co., 48 N.J. Super. 300, 137 A.2d 599 involved the involuntary dismissal of a cause after opening argument. The court in effect indicated that there could be liability for failure to properly light a parking lot.
D. Morris v. Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co. (1956), 384 Pa. 464, 121 A.2d 135 involved a slip and fall on an icy grocery store parking lot. The question of negligence was a matter for the jury.
E. Merkel v. Safeway Stores, Inc. (1962), 77 N.J. Super. 535, 187 A.2d 52 parallels the above noted Morris decision.