Opinion ID: 1670104
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Negligent Failure to Warn and the Open and Obvious Danger Theory

Text: ¶ 11. Responding to Mayfield's claim that it negligently failed to warn her of the dangerous condition at the bottom of the steps, The Hairbender correctly states it had no duty to warn of the alleged hazard because it was open, obvious and known to Mayfield prior to her injury. The Hairbender cites Wilson v. Allday, 487 So.2d 793 (Miss.1986), in which this Court stated: The established law in this state is that the owner, occupant or person in charge of premises owes to an invitee or business visitor a duty of exercising reasonable or ordinary care to keep the premises in reasonably safe and suitable condition or [1] of warning [the] invitee of dangerous conditions not readily apparent which [the] owner knows or should know of in the exercise of reasonable care. However, the owner, occupant or person in charge of property is not an insurer of the safety of an invitee  where the invitee knows or should know of an apparent danger, no warning is required. Id. at 795-96 (citing Downs v. Corder, 377 So.2d 603 (Miss.1979); J.C. Penney Co. v. Sumrall, 318 So.2d 829 (Miss.1975); Jackson Ready-Mix Concrete v. Sexton, 235 So.2d 267 (Miss.1970)); 65 C.J.S. Negligence § 63(45)(1966) (emphasis added). ¶ 12. The final sentence of the passage is a correct statement of our current law regarding the duty to warn of known or apparent dangers. We addressed the issue in Vaughn v. Ambrosino, 883 So.2d 1167, 1170 (Miss.2004): With respect to the [failure to warn claim], however, it would be strange logic that found it reasonable to allow a plaintiff to pursue a claim against a defendant for failure to warn of an open an obvious danger. One would struggle, indeed, to justify the need to warn a plaintiff of that which was open an obvious. Stated differently, a warning of an open and obvious danger would provide no new information to the plaintiff. Stated still another way, a thing warned of is either already known to the plaintiff, or it's not. If it's already known to the plaintiff, then the warning serves no purpose. If it is not already known to the plaintiff, then the thing warned of was not open and obvious in the first instance. Thus, an invitee may not recover for failure to warn of an open and obvious danger. Id. at 1170-71. ¶ 13. The uneven pavement outside of The Hairbender was an open and obvious danger. Mayfield admitted as much in her deposition. She testified that she had probably been to The Hairbender six or seven times before this incident and that she had seen the unlevel pavement. She also testified that she pointed out the condition of the pavement to one of her co-workers and commented that it was dangerous. She further admitted that at the time of the accident she was aware of the broken pavement and that she knew she needed to be careful when she walked over it. ¶ 14. It is clear that the condition of the pavement was open and obvious and in plain view. All that is required to negate the duty to warn is that the danger be open and obvious, suggesting that the plaintiff either knew or should have known of it. Here, the undisputed evidence established not only that the hazard was open and obvious, but also that Mayfield actually knew of the danger. Therefore, warning Mayfield of the uneven pavement would have served no purpose because she already knew about it. Consequently, The Hairbender may not be held liable for failing to warn Mayfield about the uneven pavement, and summary judgment on Mayfield's negligent failure to warn claim was properly granted.