Opinion ID: 849208
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the duties of a merchant

Text: We recognized in Mason the general rule that merchants do not have a duty to protect their invitees from unreasonable risks that are unforeseeable. Id. at 398. Accordingly, we held that a duty arises only on behalf of those invitees that are ‘readily identifiable as [being] foreseeably endangered.’ Id., quoting Murdock v Higgins, 454 Mich 46, 58; 559 NW2d 639 (1997). We further held that the measures taken must be reasonable. Mason at 405. In the instant cases, we are called upon to further clarify the duty that we articulated in Mason. Mason and its companion case, Goodman v Fortner, both involved altercations that began in bars. In Mason, one of the plaintiff’s friends, Dan Kanka, was involved in an altercation with another man, Thomas Geoffrey. The plaintiff 9 was in a different area of the bar when the fight began, and only witnessed its conclusion. The bar’s bouncers immediately ejected Geoffrey and, in an attempt to avoid more conflict, instructed Kanka to remain until Geoffrey left the premises. When the plaintiff left the bar some time later, Geoffrey assaulted him in the parking lot, breaking his nose and jaw. Id. at 393-394. We upheld the dismissal of the plaintiff’s resulting premises liability claim on the ground that, because the plaintiff was not near the area where the initial fight occurred (and the defendant had no knowledge that the plaintiff was associated with either Kanka or Geoffrey), the defendant had no reason to believe that the plaintiff was in danger. Even viewed in a light most favorable to the plaintiff, we held that the facts did not support a finding that the attack on the plaintiff was foreseeable. Id. at 404. In Goodman, the plaintiff’s girlfriend, Theresa Woods, was involved in a bar room scuffle with the plaintiff’s former girlfriend and mother of his child, Joslynn Lewis. The fight continued in the parking lot and then moved back inside the bar, with two of Lewis’ relatives joining the fray. Despite repeated requests that they call the police, the bar’s bouncers refused, although they did remove Lewis and her group from the bar. When the plaintiff and Woods attempted to leave the bar, Lewis and her friends were waiting out in the parking lot, yelling at the plaintiff and threatening to kill him. There was evidence that the bouncers standing at the door could undoubtedly hear the commotion. One of Lewis’ friends eventually shot the plaintiff in the chest. Id. at 395-396. 10 We upheld a jury verdict in the plaintiff’s favor on the ground that a reasonable jury could find that the harm to the plaintiff was foreseeable. We also held that a reasonable jury could find that the defendant did not take reasonable steps to prevent the plaintiff’s injury. Id. at 404-405. As we made clear in Williams and Scott, a merchant has no obligation generally to anticipate and prevent criminal acts against its invitees. Indeed, as the Court of Appeals panel in Lowry correctly noted, we have never recognized as foreseeable a criminal act that did not, as in Goodman, arise from a situation occurring on the premises under circumstances that would cause a person to recognize a risk of imminent and foreseeable harm to an identifiable invitee. Consequently, a merchant’s only duty is to respond reasonably to such a situation. To hold otherwise would mean that merchants have an obligation to provide what amounts to police protection, a proposition that we soundly rejected in both Williams and Scott.10 To the extent that, in Goodman, we relied upon evidence of previous shootings at the bar in assessing whether a reasonable jury could find that the Goodman plaintiff’s injury was foreseeable, we now disavow that analysis as being flatly inconsistent with Williams and Scott. 10 Mason cited § 344 of 2 Restatement of Torts, 2nd, and comment f to § 344, which indicate that a merchant has a duty to take precautions against the criminal conduct of third persons that may be reasonably anticipated. We overrule that portion of Mason as conflicting with Williams and Scott. 11 A premises owner’s duty is limited to responding reasonably to situations occurring on the premises because, as a matter of public policy, we should not expect invitors to assume that others will disobey the law. A merchant can assume that patrons will obey the criminal law. See People v Stone, 463 Mich 558, 565; 621 NW2d 702 (2001), citing Prosser & Keeton, Torts (5th ed) § 33, p 201; Robinson v Detroit, 462 Mich 439, 457; 613 NW2d 307 (2000); Buzckowski v McKay, 441 Mich 96, 108, n 16; 490 NW2d 330 (1992); Placek v Sterling Hts, 405 Mich 638, 673, n 18; 275 NW2d 511 (1979). This assumption should continue until a specific situation occurs on the premises that would cause a reasonable person to recognize a risk of imminent harm to an identifiable invitee. It is only a present situation on the premises, not any past incidents, that creates a duty to respond. Subjecting a merchant to liability solely on the basis of a foreseeability analysis is misbegotten. Because criminal activity is irrational and unpredictable, it is in this sense invariably foreseeable everywhere. However, even police, who are specially trained and equipped to anticipate and deal with crime, are unfortunately unable universally to prevent it. This is a testament to the arbitrary nature of crime. Given these realities, it is unjustifiable to make merchants, who not only have much less experience than the police in dealing with criminal activity but are also without a community deputation to do so, effectively vicariously liable for the criminal acts of third parties. 12 Having established that a merchant’s duty is to respond reasonably to criminal acts occurring on the premises, the next question is what is a reasonable response? Ordinarily, this would be a question for the factfinder. However, in cases in which overriding public policy concerns arise, this Court may determine what constitutes reasonable care. See Williams, supra at 501, citing Moning v Alfono, 400 Mich 425, 438; 254 NW2d 759 (1977). Because such overriding public policy concerns exist in the instant cases, the question of reasonable care is one that we will determine as a matter of law. Williams, supra at 501. We now make clear that, as a matter of law, fulfilling the duty to respond requires only that a merchant make reasonable efforts to contact the police. We believe this limitation is consistent with the public policy concerns discussed in Williams. In Williams, supra, the plaintiff was shopping in the defendant’s store when an armed robbery occurred. As the plaintiff, a store patron, attempted to flee, the robber shot him. The plaintiff sued the defendant store, alleging that it breached its duty to exercise reasonable care in part by not providing armed and visible security guards for the security of the store’s patrons. Id. at 497. This Court held that a merchant’s duty of reasonable care does not include providing armed, visible security guards to deter criminal acts of third parties. Id. at 501. We reasoned that such a duty is vested in the government alone, and that to shift the burden to the private sector would amount to advocating that members of the public resort to self-help. Such a proposition contravenes 13 public policy. Id. at 503-504. We further explained that [t]o require defendant to provide armed, visible security guards to protect invitees from criminal acts in a place of business open to the general public would require defendant to provide a safer environment on its premises than its invitees would encounter in the community at large. Defendant simply does not have that degree of control and is not an insurer of the safety of its invitees. [Id. at 502.] The rationale of this Court in Williams for not requiring merchants to provide security guards to protect invitees from the criminal acts of third parties is the same rationale for not imposing on merchants any greater obligation than to reasonably expedite the involvement of the police. That is, the duty to provide police protection is vested in the government. Williams, supra at 501. To require a merchant to do more than take reasonable efforts to expedite the involvement of the police, would essentially result in the duty to provide police protection, a concept that was rejected in Williams.11 Merchants do not have effective control over situations involving spontaneous and sudden incidents of criminal activity. On the contrary, control is precisely what has been lost in such a situation.12 Thus, to impose an obligation on the merchant to do more than take reasonable efforts to contact the police is at odds with the public policy principles of Williams. 11 A merchant may voluntarily do more than reasonably attempt to notify the police. However, we hold today, that a merchant is under no legal obligation to do so. 12 In most instances, other than merely being the owner of the business being victimized, the merchant and invitee will be situated in roughly the same position in terms of their vulnerability to the violent criminal predator. 14 In Scott, supra at 452, we expanded on this theme by holding that, even where a merchant voluntarily takes safety precautions in an effort to prevent criminal activity, [s]uit may not be maintained on the theory that the safety measures are less effective than they could or should have been. Consequently, in any case in which a factfinder, be it the trial court or a jury, will be assessing the reasonableness of the measures taken by a merchant in responding to an occurrence on the premises, a plaintiff may not present evidence concerning the presence or absence of security personnel, or the failure to otherwise resort to self-help, as a basis for establishing a breach of the merchant’s duty. A jury thus must be specifically instructed in accordance with the principles of Williams and Scott as we have outlined them here. To summarize, under Mason, generally merchants have a duty to use reasonable care to protect their identifiable invitees from the foreseeable criminal acts of third parties. Id. at 405. The duty is triggered by specific acts occurring on the premises that pose a risk of imminent and foreseeable harm to an identifiable invitee. Whether an invitee is readily identifiable as being foreseeably endangered is a question for the factfinder if reasonable minds could differ on this point. See id. at 404-405. While a merchant is required to take reasonable measures in response to an ongoing situation that is taking place on the premises, there is no obligation to otherwise anticipate the criminal acts of third parties. Consistent with Williams, a merchant is not 15 obligated to do anything more than reasonably expedite the involvement of the police. We also reaffirm that a merchant is not required to provide security guards or otherwise resort to self help in order to deter or quell such occurrences. Williams, supra.