Court Opinion

ID: 9584319
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:46:50.849156+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:07:30.236399
License: Public Domain

Sawyer, RJ.
(dissenting in part and concurring in part). I respectfully dissent.
The majority and I are in agreement on most points. However, we do disagree on the interpretation of Bertrand v Alan Ford, Inc, 449 Mich 606; 537 NW2d 185 (1995), and the application of Bertrand to the case at bar. I read Bertrand to hold that, if the particular activity or condition creates a risk of harm only because the invitee does not discover the condition or realize its danger, then the open and obvious danger doctrine will cut off liability if the invitee should have discovered the condition and realized its danger. However, if the risk of harm remains unreasonable, despite its obviousness or despite knowledge of it by the invitee, then the circumstances may be such that the invitor is required to undertake reasonable precautions. The issue then becomes the standard of care and is for the jury to decide. Id. at 611.
*181I am satisfied that the open and obvious danger doctrine is applicable to the case at bar. First, the parties and the majority agree that the danger of falling off a steep roof is open and obvious. The disagreement arises in whether the risk remains unreasonable, and therefore the invitor was responsible to undertake reasonable precautions. In looking to Bertrand for guidance, I believe that the guiding principle is whether Randall Hottmann could have provided for his own safety. In Bertrand, supra at 616-617, the Court summarized the rule as follows in the context of a case involving steps into a building:
[BJecause steps are the type of everyday occurrence that people encounter, under most circumstances, a reasonably prudent person will look where he is going, will observe the steps, and will take appropriate care for his own safety. Under ordinary circumstances, the overriding public policy of encouraging people to take reasonable care for their own safety precludes imposing a duty on the possessor of land to make ordinary steps “foolproof.” Therefore, the risk of harm is not unreasonable. However, where there is something unusual about the steps, because of their “character, location, or surrounding conditions,” then the duty of the possessor of land to exercise reasonable care remains.
In the case at bar, while a roof may not be quite as much of an everyday occurrence as steps, neither is it something wholly unusual. Furthermore, with respect to the roof in question in this case, there is no indication that the circumstances presented in working on this roof were any different than the circumstances encountered in working on roofs in general. There is no indication that Randall was not able, because of the character, location, or surrounding conditions of the roof, to take whatever steps he deemed prudent to assure his safety.
*182While the Bertrand opinion does more to muddy the issue of the open and obvious danger doctrine than to clarify it, my reading of that opinion, as well as the cases referred to in it, divines the following principle: The open and obvious danger doctrine does not apply where, despite the danger being open and obvious, the invitee is nevertheless obligated to face the danger and cannot take reasonable means to protect himself from the danger.
In the case at bar, the dangers of working on a roof were open and obvious. There is no indication that the circumstances surrounding this particular roof prevented Randall from assessing the danger presented and either avoiding it entirely or enlisting whatever safety measures he felt appropriate. Indeed, some safety measure was employed, namely the two-by-four foot holds, and Randall participated in the decision to use them. If Randall believed that those foot holds did not adequately alleviate the danger of working on the roof, he could have declined to work on the roof unless a different safety measure was utilized, such as the roof jacks that he now argues should have been used.
For these reasons, I conclude that the trial court correctly found that the open and obvious danger doctrine bars plaintiffs’ claims in this case.
Finally, I concur in the majority’s analysis of the issues concerning the regulations of the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act, MCL 408.1001 et seq.; MSA 17.50(1) et seq.