Opinion ID: 874020
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Construing all disputed facts and drawing all reasonable inferences in the Balls' favor, there are genuine issues of material fact as to the City's negligence.

Text: Concurrent with its motion for summary judgment, the City moved the district court to strike evidence contained within the Balls' affidavits. However, the district court declined to rule on the motion to strike on the basis that application of Pearson rendered all evidence contained within the affidavits irrelevant. This conclusion affects the issue on appeal because trial courts must determine the admissibility of evidence as a `threshold question' to be answered before addressing the merits of motions for summary judgment. Montgomery v. Montgomery, 147 Idaho 1, 6, 205 P.3d 650, 655 (2009) (citing Hecla Mining Co. v. Star-Morning Mining Co., 122 Idaho 778, 784, 839 P.2d 1192, 1198 (1992)). The trial court's failure to rule on the City's motion to strike amounts to a denial of that motion. Dawson v. Cheyovich Family Trust, 149 Idaho 375, 380, 234 P.3d 699, 704 (2010) (citing Gutierrez v. Mass. Bay Transp. Auth., 437 Mass. 396, 772 N.E.2d 552, 560 (2002)). Thus, we look to each of the affidavits submitted by the Balls and the City to determine if disputed issues of material fact remain as to whether the City exercised ordinary care under the circumstances. Before we consider those affidavits, however, we consider the nature of the duty the City owed to JoAn. Idaho courts have maintained that the duty of owners and possessors of land is determined by the status of the person injured on the land ( i.e., whether the person is a invitee, licensee or trespasser). E.g., Rehwalt v. American Falls Reservoir, Dist. No. 2, 97 Idaho 634, 636, 550 P.2d 137, 139 (1976). An invitee is one who enters upon the premises of another for a purpose connected with the business conducted on the land, or where it can reasonably be said that the visit may confer a business, commercial, monetary or other tangible benefit to the landowner. Wilson v. Bogert, 81 Idaho 535, 347 P.2d 341 (1959). A landowner owes an invitee the duty to keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition, or to warn of hidden or concealed dangers. Bates v. Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, 114 Idaho 252, 253, 755 P.2d 1290, 1291 (1988). A licensee is a visitor who goes upon the premises of another with the consent of the landowner in pursuit of the visitor's purpose. See Pincock v. McCoy, 48 Idaho 227, 281 P. 371 (1929); Evans v. Park, 112 Idaho 400, 732 P.2d 369 (Ct.App.1987). Likewise, a social guest is also a licensee. Wilson, 81 Idaho at 545, 347 P.2d at 347. The duty owed to a licensee is narrow. A landowner is only required to share with the licensee knowledge of dangerous conditions or activities on the land. Evans, 112 Idaho at 401, 732 P.2d at 370. Additionally, this Court has held that [t]he fact that a guest may be rendering a minor, incidental service to the host does not change the relationship [between them as a landowner and a licensee]. Wilson, 81 Idaho at 545, 347 P.2d at [347]; see also Mooney v. Robinson, 93 Idaho 676, 471 P.2d 63 (1970). Holzheimer v. Johannesen, 125 Idaho 397, 399-400, 871 P.2d 814, 816-17 (1994). Idaho Code § 6-903(1) provides that, subject to exceptions that do not appear to apply to this appeal, a governmental entity is liable for damages arising from its negligence to the same extent that a private person or entity would be liable for money damages under the laws of the state of Idaho. . . . For purposes of summary judgment, there is sufficient evidence in the record to support a finding that JoAn, as a pool patron, was an invitee, and the City owed her a duty to keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition. Id. We hold that the affidavits contain conflicting evidence regarding whether the City failed to keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition. The affidavit of the pool manager states that on the day of JoAn's accident, the manager noticed that the City had plowed snow from the parking lot across the sidewalk and onto the grass, that ice had accumulated on the sidewalk, and that the manager sprinkled ice melt in the area where JoAn fell prior to the fall. An affidavit submitted by a regular pool patron stated that during the 2008 winter, she observed that the City's habit of plowing parking lot snow onto the grass beside the sidewalk caused excess snow melt to run onto the sidewalk where it subsequently froze, creating especially icy sidewalk conditions. The patron also stated that she had informed the pool manager of these slick conditions, and that in the weeks prior to JoAn's fall, she had not observed evidence that ice melt was applied in the location where the ice was forming on the sidewalk. According to Fred's affidavit, the temperatures during the day and night preceding JoAn's fall had first risen above and then fallen below freezing. His affidavit also stated that immediately after the fall, he observed evidence that ice melt had been applied near the pool entrance, but no similar evidence of ice melt application where JoAn fell. Fred also observed that the snow piled on the grass beside the sidewalk combined with the slope of the landscaping and the melt/freeze cycle to cause a greater amount of ice to accumulate on the sidewalk than would otherwise naturally occur. Finally, the affidavit of a pool patron who witnessed JoAn's fall stated that immediately after the accident occurred, she observed that there were signs of ice melt application near the entrance to the pool, but that the sidewalk area where JoAn fell did not exhibit similar signs. Instead, she perceived the sidewalk where JoAn fell to be dark and wet. Construing all disputed facts and drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the Balls, there is evidence in the affidavits that suggests both that no ice melt was applied to the sidewalk where JoAn fell and that the City's practice of piling snow on the grass beside the sidewalk may have combined with other factors to cause excess ice to accumulate on the sidewalk. Since disputed issues of material fact remain as to whether the City breached its duty to keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition, the district court's grant of summary judgment was in error.