Opinion ID: 2176423
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Duty to Aid

Text: Absent statutes to the contrary, or the existence of a legally cognizable special relationship, the law is clear that a person has no legal duty to come to the aid of another in distress, even if the aid can be provided at no risk or cost to the other person. See Lamb v. Hopkins, supra, 303 Md. at 242, 492 A.2d 1297; Keeton et al., supra, § 56, at 375; Harper et al., 3 The Law of Torts § 18.6, at 718-19 (2nd ed. 1986); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 314 (1965). Thus, [t]he fact that the actor realizes or should realize that action on his part is necessary for another's aid or protection does not of itself impose upon him a duty to take such action. Restatement, supra, § 314. [7] Courts in some jurisdictions have created a number of narrowly drawn special relationship exceptions to this general common law rule which give rise to a duty to render aid; they include, inter alia, common carrier to passenger, innkeeper to guest, and shopkeeper to business visitor. See Keeton et al., supra, § 56, at 376-77. The only potential relevant exception to the general rule in the case before us is the shopkeeper-business visitor relationship. Although no Maryland case has ever applied this exception, the authorities have stated that a shopkeeper owes a legal duty to render aid to an invitee when the shopkeeper knows that the invitee is ill or injured on the business premises. See Keeton et al., supra, § 61, at 426 (A landowner must act reasonably to render aid or other care when he knows or should know that the invitee is ill or injured); Harper et al., supra, § 18.6, at 722-23 (One who invites others on his premises has been held bound to take reasonable steps to rescue them from perils that his negligence played no part in creating); Restatement, supra, § 314A (Possessor of land owes a duty to its invitees to render aid after the landholder knows or has reason to know that they are ill or injured). Decisions from other jurisdictions also follow the rule that a storekeeper owes a legal duty to aid its business invitees. In Drew v. LeJay's Sportsmen's Cafe, Inc., 806 P.2d 301 (Wyo. 1991), the Supreme Court of Wyoming held that a restaurant has a duty to summon medical assistance in a reasonable time for a choking victim, but has no duty to provide first aid to the victim. In particular, the court found that the following jury instruction issued by the trial court was proper. A restaurant whose employees are reasonably on notice that a customer is in distress and in need of emergency medical attention has a legal duty to come to the assistance of that customer. However, a restaurant does not have a duty to provide medical training to its food service personnel, or medical rescue services to its customers who become ill or injured through no act or [sic] omission of the restaurant or its employees. A restaurant in these circumstances meets its legal duty to a customer in distress when it summons medical assistance within a reasonable time. Drew, 806 P.2d at 304. Similar facts to the instant case existed in Jones v. Kwik Karol and Ginalco, Inc., 490 So.2d 664 (La. Ct. App. 1986). In that case, the plaintiff was outside of a convenience store/gas station pumping gas into his car. Two men began verbally harassing the plaintiff as he filled his tank and continued to torment him as he walked toward the store for a receipt. Sensing trouble, a female customer asked the attendant to call the police. Approximately four minutes later, one of the two men struck the plaintiff and a struggle ensued where the two men battered the plaintiff. One witness stated that the store attendant simply stood inside the store and watched the fight. The attendant claimed that he called his supervisor after the fight began and that his supervisor advised him to call the police. The fight was over, however, before he called the police. The trial court found that the defendant store owner did not breach its duty to reduce the risk of harm to the plaintiff. The Louisiana intermediate appellate court reversed the trial court and concluded that the store's employee breached its duty to exercise reasonable care for the protection and safety of its patrons. Also finding that this breach was a proximate cause of plaintiff's injuries, the court said: [The attendant] knew that the two white men were acting suspiciously (trying to steal gas) before [plaintiff] walked into the store. [The attendant] acknowledged that a white female told him to call the police three to five minutes before the altercation began. Even though he could clearly see that a patron was being beaten, [the attendant] did not call police until after he telephoned his supervisor and apparently after [plaintiff] asked him to do so. [The attendant] could have easily reduced or removed the risk of harm to plaintiff by calling the police when requested to do so, first by [plaintiff] and then by others before the fight began. He could have stepped outside to better see and hear what was going on. He could have told the men he was going to call the police or ordered them to depart. Instead, he dismissed every request to call the police and neglected to take any action until the fight was almost over. Jones, 490 So.2d at 666. It is evident from the decisions in other jurisdictions and from the various authorities that a shopkeeper has a legal duty to come to the assistance of an endangered business visitor if there is no risk of harm to the proprietor or its employees. In this regard, we adopt § 314A of the Restatement, and in particular embrace the proposition that an employee of a business has a legal duty to take affirmative action for the aid or protection of a business invitee who is in danger while on the business's premises, provided that the employee has knowledge of the injured invitee and the employee is not in the path of danger. [8] It is clear that, under the allegations of his complaint, taken as true, Griffith enjoyed the status of a business visitor when he entered the store and purchased food. The fact that he was an off-duty police officer did not alter that status, and he remained a business invitee while he sat in the truck on the store's parking lot and consumed the food. Nor did he cease to be a business visitor when, in responding to the attack upon him and his son, he confronted and attempted to arrest his assailants in the course of the fight. Because Officer Griffith was a business visitor, Southland, through its employee, owed him a legal duty to aid (call the police) when he requested assistance. Clearly, a material factual dispute exists as to whether the employee called the police when requested to do so. As earlier noted, the employee maintains that she immediately made the call; Griffith's son, in his affidavit, averred that she twice refused to summon assistance and only on the third occasion after the son dialed 911 did she assist by giving the operator the store's address. We therefore conclude that the entry of summary judgment in favor of Southland was inappropriate in this case because, under the facts alleged by Griffith, we cannot say, as a matter of law, that the store clerk had no legal duty to phone for emergency assistance. JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS AFFIRMED FOR THE REASONS STATED HEREIN; CASE REMANDED TO THAT COURT WITH DIRECTIONS TO REMAND THE CASE TO THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS NOT INCONSISTENT WITH THIS OPINION. COSTS IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS AND IN THIS COURT TO BE PAID BY THE APPELLANT.