Opinion ID: 852295
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Resolution of Lair's Claim

Text: Lair argues that his claim is not one of premises liability and for this reason the fireman's rule does not apply. We do not agree with either the premise or the conclusion of this argument. First, as the Court of Appeals noted, to the extent Babes has any liability grounded solely in failure to control the unruly patron, it is a premises liability claim. Moreover, as already explained, Lair is not correct in asserting that the fireman's rule applies only to claims based on premises liability. Lair also argues that his claim is not barred by the fireman's rule because Babes violated statutes and an ordinance enacted to protect police officers. Specifically, Lair argues that he can recover from Babes here because Babes allegedly violated a local ordinance prohibiting owners of adult entertainment businesses from allowing customers to commit crimes. He also points out that Indiana's battery statute provides a heightened punishment for battery of a police officer. From these premises, he reasons that violation of the Marion County ordinance is sufficient to take Babes outside the protection afforded by the fireman's rule. Finally, Lair argues that because Babes allegedly violated Indiana's Dram Shop law in serving the underage patron, Ind.Code § 7.1-5-7-8 (2004), he should be able to recover from Babes for his injuries. Violation of a statute or ordinance enacted specifically to protect emergency responders may remove the protection otherwise afforded by the fireman's rule. Woodruff v. Bowen, 136 Ind. 431, 441, 34 N.E. 1113, 1117 (1893). And Lair is correct that the local ordinance targets adult entertainment businesses and holds them responsible for criminal activity that they allow on their premises. Indianapolis/Marion County Rev.Code § 807-302(c) (2009). But this ordinance is not specifically aimed at protecting emergency responders. Rather, its stated purpose is to regulate adult entertainment businesses... to promote the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the citizens of Marion County. Id. § 807-101 (2009). If every statute or ordinance protecting ordinary citizens was construed to protect emergency responders specifically, the exception to the fireman's rule announced in Woodruff would swallow the rule. Lair's related argument, that the battery statute's enhanced penalty for assaulting a police officer provides evidence that the statute was enacted with the specific intent of protecting police officers, likewise fails. The statute enhances the criminal penalty for battery if it is committed against a law enforcement officer, whether or not responding to an emergency. I.C. § 35-42-2-1(a)(2) (2004). But an enhanced penalty for all batteries of officers does not suggest any specific purpose to protect police officers responding to emergencies any more than those making arrests or on routine patrols. We agree with the Court of Appeals that Lair's Dram Shop argument also fails. Lair contends that under [the Court of Appeals'] holding Detective Lair would be barred from a dram shop claim even if the visibly intoxicated minor Babes served drove his vehicle into Detective Lair while he was on patrol. To the contrary, the fireman's rule as we have expressed it today would not protect Babes in that circumstance. In sum, Lair's complaint alleged nothing suggesting that Babes was negligent in any respect apart from the negligence that produced the emergent situation with the unruly patron. Without any such allegation, the complaint fails to state a claim against Babes in the face of the fireman's rule. The complaint was therefore properly dismissed for failure to state a claim.