Court Opinion

ID: 9611338
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:55:19.031543+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:13.116855
License: Public Domain

*741Judge Gkeene
dissenting.
I disagree with the majority that no genuine issue of material fact exists regarding whether defendant owed plaintiff a duty. I, therefore, dissent. Additionally, because I believe there is a genuine issue of material fact regarding defendant’s duty to plaintiff, I address defendant’s argument that plaintiff is barred from recovery on the ground she was contributorily negligent.

Duty

Generally, “there is no duty to protect a lawful visitor against dangers which are either known to him or so obvious and apparent that they reasonably may be expected to be discovered.” Lorinovich v. K Mart Corp., 134 N.C. App. 158, 162, 516 S.E.2d 643, 646, cert. denied, 351 N.C. 107, - S.E.2d - (1999). An occupier of land, however, has a duty to take precautions against “ ‘obvious’ ” dangers when a reasonable person would “ ‘anticipate an unreasonable risk of harm to the [visitor] notwithstanding [the visitor’s] knowledge, warning, or the obvious nature of the condition.’ ” Southern Railway Co. v. ADM Milling Co., 58 N.C. App. 667, 673, 294 S.E.2d 750, 755 (quoting William L. Prosser, Handbook of the Law of Torts § 61, at 394-95 (4th ed. 1971) [hereinafter Law of Torts]), disc. review denied, 307 N.C. 270, 299 S.E.2d 215 (1982). When a plaintiff presents evidence that an unreasonable risk of harm exists, the issue of whether a defendant has “fulfilled its responsibility to keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition so as not to expose [the plaintiff] to unnecessary dangers” is a question of fact for the jury. Id. at 674, 294 S.E.2d at 756.
In this case, plaintiff presented evidence that defendant had a party in her home and appropriate attire for the party included dress shoes. Defendant’s walkway leading from a parking area to her home contained patches of ice and snow and was illuminated only by lighting coming from inside the home. Visitors to defendant’s home used this walkway to enter and leave the home. Based on this evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, a jury could determine that a reasonable person would “anticipate an unreasonable risk of harm” to a visitor using the walkway regardless of whether the visitor was aware the walkway contained patches of ice and snow. See id. at 673, 294 S.E.2d at 755 (conditions such as icy steps that “ ‘cannot be negotiated with reasonable safety even though the [visitor] is fully aware of [the conditions]’ ” may create unreasonable risk of harm to the visitor (quoting Law of Torts § 61, at 394-95)). Whether *742defendant owed a duty to plaintiff and whether that duty was breached was, therefore, a question for the jury.

Contributory negligence

Defendant argues in her brief to this Court that, assuming she breached a duty owed to plaintiff, plaintiff is nevertheless “barred from recovery as a matter of law since there is no genuine issue as to [plaintiff’s] own contributory negligence.” I disagree.
“[A] plaintiffs right to recover in a personal injury action is barréd upon a finding of contributory negligence.” Cobo v. Raba, 347 N.C. 541, 545, 495 S.E.2d 362, 365 (1998). A plaintiff is contributorily negligent when she fails to use due care to protect herself from risk of injury if the risk would have been apparent to “a prudent person exercising ordinary care for [her] own safety.” Smith v. Fiber Controls Corp., 300 N.C. 669, 673, 268 S.E.2d 504, 507 (1980). “In those instances where the landowner retains a duty to [a] lawful visitor even though an obvious danger is present, the obvious nature of the danger is some evidence of contributory negligence on the part of the lawful visitor.” Lorinovich, 134 N.C. App. at 162-63 n.2, 516 S.E.2d at 646 n.2 (emphasis added).
In this case, assuming the jury determined defendant owed a duty to plaintiff and defendant breached that duty, the obvious nature of the danger caused by snow and ice on the walkway would be some evidence that plaintiff was contributorily negligent by walking on the walkway. Plaintiff, however, presented evidence that when she went to leave defendant’s party, an employee of defendant unlocked and opened an exit door leading to the walkway and plaintiff exited through the door. The employee locked the door behind plaintiff. Whether a reasonable person would have attempted to reenter defendant’s house and ask for assistance under these circumstances is a question of fact for the jury. See id. at 163, 516 S.E.2d at 647. Accordingly, I would reverse the trial court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of defendant.