96-318

No. 96-381

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA

1997

EMBERNETTA D. SMITH,

Plaintiff and Appellant,

v.

KRAYTON KERNS, d/b/a

BEARTOOTH VETERINARY CLINIC,

Defendant and Respondent.

APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Thirteenth Judicial District,

In and for the County of Yellowstone,

The Honorable Russell C. Fagg, Judge presiding.

COUNSEL OF RECORD:

For Appellant:

Frank C. Richter; Richter, Torkelson & Hanson

Billings, Montana

For Respondent:

Guy W. Rogers, Tiffany B. Lonnevik; Brown,

Gerbase, Cebull, Fulton, Harman & Ross, Billings,

Montana

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Submitted on Briefs: December 19, 1996

Decided: January 28, 1997

Filed:

__________________________________________

Clerk

Justice W. William Leaphart delivered the Opinion of the Court.

 Appellant, Embernetta Smith (Smith), appeals from the

Thirteenth Judicial District Court's decision granting summary

judgment to Krayton Kerns, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (Dr.

Kerns). We reverse and remand.

 We address only the following dispositive issue:

 Did the District Court err in granting summary judgment

 to Dr. Kerns?

 BACKGROUND

 Smith and her husband arrived at Beartooth Veterinary Clinic

to drop off the family dog. While Smith's husband waited in their

vehicle, Smith entered the clinic through the front door which

closed behind her by way of a mechanical closing device. After

handing her dog to the receptionist, Smith walked back toward the

front door to leave. As she walked toward the door, Smith stopped

to move Dr. Kerns' "resident" cat which was sitting in front of the

door. Smith placed the cat to the side of the door and continued

exiting the building.

 As she was exiting through the doorway, Smith looked back at

the cat and fell on her right shoulder and left hand. As a result

of this fall, Smith received a fracture of the shoulder/greater

tuberosity, and other injuries.

 Smith brought this action in District Court to recover damages

for the injuries she incurred as a result of her fall. She alleged

that the cat interfered with her safe exit from the building. The

District Court granted Dr. Kerns' motion for summary judgment,

holding that Smith had failed to establish that Dr. Kerns had

breached his duty to use ordinary care to maintain his premises in

a reasonably safe condition or to show that Dr. Kerns' cat was the

cause of her injuries. Smith appeals this judgment. 

 DISCUSSION

 This Court's standard of review in appeals from summary

judgment rulings is "de novo." Motarie v. N. Mont. Joint Refuse

Disposal Dist. (1995), 274 Mont. 239, 242, 907 P.2d 154, 156; Mead

v. M.S.B., Inc. (1994), 264 Mont. 465, 470, 872 P.2d 782, 785. 

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 The purpose behind granting summary judgment is to encourage

judicial economy through the elimination of unnecessary trials. 

Payne Realty v. First Sec. Bank (1992), 256 Mont. 19, 24, 844 P.2d

90, 93. It is well established that a party moving for summary

judgment must show a complete absence of any genuine issue as to

all facts shown to be material in light of substantive principles

that entitle that party to a judgment as a matter of law. Cereck

v. Albertson's, Inc. (1981), 195 Mont. 409, 411, 637 P.2d 509, 511.

 In a claim of negligence, a successful plaintiff must prove

each of the following four elements: (1) the defendant owed a duty

to the plaintiff; (2) the defendant breached that duty; (3) the

breach was the actual and proximate cause of plaintiff's injuries;

and (4) that damages resulted. Moralli v. Lake County (1992), 255

Mont. 23, 27-28, 839 P.2d 1287, 1290. A motion for summary

judgment in a negligence suit should not be granted, unless there

are no factual questions material to these four substantive

principles. Cereck, 637 P.2d at 511.

 The District Court based its decision to grant summary

judgment on Smith's failure to establish that Dr. Kerns either

breached his duty to maintain his premises in a reasonably safe

condition, or to show that Dr. Kerns' cat caused her to fall. 

Specifically, the District Court held that Dr. Kerns had not

breached his duty to keep his premises in a reasonably safe

condition as neither the doorway nor the cat were hidden or lurking

dangers. The District Court also held that Smith failed to

establish that Dr. Kerns' cat was the cause of her injuries since

it was not shown to have touched or tripped Smith.

 As a business owner, Dr. Kerns has a duty to keep his premises

reasonably safe, warn invitees of hidden or lurking dangers, and to

provide a safe entry and exit onto the premises. Piedalue v.

Clinton Elementary Sch. Dist. (1984), 214 Mont. 99, 103, 692 P.2d

20, 22. Ordinarily, the breach of a legal duty is a question of

fact for a jury to determine. Suhr v. Sears Roebuck & Co. (1969),

152 Mont. 344, 348, 450 P.2d 87, 89. A district court is only to

determine whether a defendant is negligent when evidence is

undisputed or susceptible to only one conclusion by reasonable

people. Suhr, 450 P.2d at 89 (citing Robinson v. F.W. Woolworth

Co. (1927), 80 Mont. 431, 261 P. 253). In the present case, there

is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Dr. Kerns

breached his duty towards Smith by allowing the cat to remain in

proximity to the doorway thereby leaving his clients in doubt as to

whether the cat was going to bolt for the exit.

 On the question of causation, the trial court acknowledged

that there was a dispute in the deposition testimony as to whether

the cat moved once Smith had removed it from the doorway. 

Embernetta Smith, the plaintiff, explained in her deposition that

once she placed the cat to the side, although she feared it would

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move towards the door, it stayed put. Her husband, on the other

hand, testified that as Embernetta fell, the cat ran out the door. 

In granting summary judgment the court concluded that this dispute

in the testimony was not material since, in either event, there was

no testimony that the cat touched or tripped Smith.

 The Court believes that summary judgment in this case

 would also be proper because causation cannot be shown. 

 This inescapable conclusion results from the fact that

 neither Plaintiff Smith nor her contradictory witness

 husband, Mr. Smith, claim that the cat actually touched

 or tripped the Plaintiff as she exited the clinic.

The courtþs conclusion is wrong in two regards. First, there is

clearly a dispute in the testimony as to whether the cat remained

stationary or exited the door at the same time as Smith. The court

erred in concluding that the question of whether the cat moved was

not a material fact. If the cat bolted and ran out the door at the

same time that Smith was attempting to exit, the fact finder could

certainly find that fact relevant to the question of causation.

Secondly, the District Court assumed that, in order to establish

causation, Smith would have to show that the cat tripped or

contacted her thus making her fall. The courtþs rationale,

however, is too narrow an interpretation of Smithþs claim. Smith

alleges in her complaint that the cat "interfered with [her] safe

exit . . . . " She testified in her deposition that, as she held

the door open to exit, "I turned around to look to see if the cat

was following me out the door." In granting summary judgment

because the cat did not touch or trip Smith, the court ignored the

fact that, although the cat may not have tripped or contacted her,

it may have constituted a distraction causing her to fall. 

 In Morris v. Weatherly (Minn.App. 1992), 488 N.W.2d 508, a

Minnesota appellate court affirmed a jury verdict in favor of a

bicyclist who had been attacked by a dog which did not come into

physical contact with his person. See also Farrior v. Payton (Haw.

1977), 562 P.2d 779, 787. In Morris, the court explained that

"[a]lthogh no physical contact occurred, the dog's actions caused

Morris to dismount quickly and in so doing, to fall, tearing the

rotator cuff in his left shoulder." Morris, 488 N.W.2d at 510. 

 Although a moving cat is presumably more distracting than a

stationary cat, the fact finder may, nonetheless, conclude that,

even if the cat remained put, it distracted Smith when she looked

back to make sure that it was not going to bolt for the open door

and run between her feet. Reasonable minds could differ as to that

fact. Thus, genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether

the cat moved and whether (stationary or mobile) the cat was a

distraction which caused Smith to look back and fall as she exited.

 Although it appears from the record that no contact occurred

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between Dr. Kerns' cat and Smith, summary judgment was not

appropriate as reasonable minds could still differ as to whether

Dr. Kerns' cat was the cause of Smith's injuries.

 In sum, we hold that summary judgment in the instant case was

inappropriate. As the District Court points out in its order,

negligence claims are generally not susceptible to summary

judgment. J.L. v. Kienenberger (1993), 257 Mont. 113, 117, 848

P.2d 472, 475. In Cereck, the plaintiff slipped and fell on the

snow and ice on Albertsonþs property. In reversing summary

judgment for Albertsonþs, we held that:

 The party opposing summary judgment is entitled to

 the benefit of all reasonable inferences that may be

 drawn from the offered proof. In this case it may

 reasonably be inferred that the piling of snow in front

 of the store entrance increased the hazard created by the

 natural accumulation of snow and ice and that the

 defendants should have anticipated the injuries that Mrs.

 Cereck received as a result of the dangerous condition.

Cereck, 637 P.2d at 512. 

 In the present case, the jury may reasonably infer that Dr.

Kerns was negligent in allowing the cat to roam freely about the

premises and distract patrons who are negotiating the stairway

exit. The jury is in the best position to determine the

reasonableness of Smith's claim that the cat interfered with her

safe exit from the premises. Accordingly, we reverse and remand.

 /S/ W. WILLIAM LEAPHART

We concur:

/S/ J. A. TURNAGE

/S/ KARLA M. GRAY

/S/ JAMES C. NELSON

/S/ WILLIAM E. HUNT, SR.

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