Coyle v. Historic Mission Inn Corp.

234 Cal. Rptr. 3d 330, 24 Cal. App. 5th 627
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedJune 15, 2018
DocketE066265
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 234 Cal. Rptr. 3d 330 (Coyle v. Historic Mission Inn Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coyle v. Historic Mission Inn Corp., 234 Cal. Rptr. 3d 330, 24 Cal. App. 5th 627 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

MILLER Acting P. J.

*631Plaintiff and appellant Michele Coyle sued defendant and respondent Historic Mission Inn Corporation (the Mission Inn) for negligence and premises liability. The trial court granted the Mission Inn's motion for summary judgment. (Code Civ. Proc., § 473c.) Coyle contends the trial court erred by granting the motion for summary judgment. We reverse the order granting summary judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A. COMPLAINT

The facts in this paragraph are taken from the allegations in Coyle's complaint. On May 8, 2013, Coyle ate lunch with a friend. They ate lunch on a patio at the Mission Inn. During lunch, a spider bit Coyle's back. As a result of the spider bite, Coyle "was hospitalized with numbness and weakness in her extremities due to demyelination in [her] thoracic spine."

In the negligence and premises liability causes of action, Coyle alleged the Mission Inn "knew or should of known that spiders *334were prevalent in the outside patio area of its restaurants." Coyle asserted the Mission Inn was aware or should have been aware of the risk the spiders posed to patrons. Coyle alleged the Mission Inn was negligent in failing to warn of the danger of the spiders, or in failing to take reasonable care to prevent spiders from coming into contact with patrons. Coyle sought compensatory damages according to proof.

B. MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

The Mission Inn moved for summary judgment. The Mission Inn asserted Coyle complained of being "bitten by a black widow spider." The Mission Inn asserted, "[A] hotel operator does not have an absolute duty to insure the safety of its guests, and this includes a duty to protect against spider bites." The Mission Inn also contended, it "did not owe [Coyle] a duty to protect her from the alleged black widow spider bite [because s]uch a duty would be unreasonable under the circumstances in this case" due to (1) the Mission Inn following "pest control protocols that exceeded industry standards"; (2) the Mission Inn lacking any knowledge of black widow spiders on its dining patio; and (3) the costs of a duty outweighing the benefits of a duty. Further, *632the Mission Inn asserted it exercised reasonable care in this case because the Mission Inn "met and exceeded the industry standard of insect inspection and extermination."

C. OPPOSITION

Coyle opposed the Mission Inn's motion for summary judgment. Coyle asserted that, on May 8, 2013, during lunch, she "removed her over-blouse and placed it either on an empty chair or a low cement wall." Later, while still at lunch, Coyle put on the over-blouse. Coyle then "felt a sharp pain in her right shoulder blade, which began to spasm immediately." Coyle jumped. Coyle's lunch companion asked what was wrong. Coyle said, " 'I think I just got bitten by something.' " Coyle iced her shoulder.

The next morning, Coyle's arms, legs, and "core area" were numb. Coyle could not move her arms and legs. Coyle used her nose to call for assistance. Coyle went to the hospital and stayed for approximately six days. "[D]octors diagnosed [Coyle] with paralysis and related the injury to her spine from a spider bite." "Because the spider venom had reached [Coyle's] spinal fluid, [Coyle] is permanently damaged," in that Coyle does not have full function in her left hand and leg.

Coyle asserted that property owners owe a duty of reasonable care in maintaining their properties in a safe condition. Coyle asserted that, prior to May 8, 2013, there were 13 spider sightings reported to the Mission Inn, and three spiders were specifically identified as black widows. Thus, Coyle asserted the Mission Inn had knowledge of spiders, and specifically black widows, being on its property. Coyle contended that because the Mission Inn had knowledge of the black widow spiders, reasonable care required the Mission Inn to (1) warn patrons of, or (2) "take remedial action." Coyle asserted the Mission Inn provided no evidence of warnings related to black widows or of pest control directly targeting black widow spiders.

D. HEARING

The trial court issued a tentative ruling in which it wrote, "[The Mission Inn] has met [its] initial burden and [Coyle] has failed to establish that the Mission Inn had a duty to protect her from potential insect/spider bites, thus her claims based upon negligence fail."

The trial court held a hearing on the Mission Inn's motion for summary judgment.

*335Coyle argued that (1) the Mission Inn conceded it had a duty to exercise reasonable care toward its patrons, and (2) it is the responsibility of *633the trier of fact to decide what reasonable care means within the circumstances of this case. Coyle explained that the dispute in the case centers upon what was required by the reasonable care standard, and that was an issue for the jury-what reasonable care means within the facts of this case.

The trial court said the Mission Inn did not concede that it had a duty. The trial court explained that the Mission Inn argued "that there is no existence of a duty as to potential spider bites or insect bites because there was no foreseeability based upon the history of spider sightings, insect sightings as far as pest control is concerned at the Mission Inn." Coyle asked if the trial court was explaining the Mission Inn's argument as asserting (1) there is no duty, or (2) reasonable care in this case did not require any action on the part of the Mission Inn. The trial court said the Mission Inn could explain its argument. The Mission Inn asserted, "[I]t's absolutely correct we are arguing that the issue to be decided by this Court on this motion is the scope or existence of the duty with respect to this spider bite to this woman on the outdoor patio."

The trial court explained, "I don't believe that [Coyle] through [Coyle's] evidence has established that the Mission Inn had a duty, an extended duty to protect her from potential insect or spider bites because there's no evidence that there was ever any type of spiders seen on that patio. There was no evidence that there was any bites from spiders on that patio, and that's really the basis for the Court's ruling in looking at the evidence. I do believe it's a matter of law for the Court to determine whether or not there is, in fact, a duty and how far that duty extends. [¶] In this case, I don't believe there's sufficient evidence that [Coyle] has met [her] burden that the duty itself as a matter of law would extend to the Mission Inn to protect potential customers from this type of bite based upon the evidence that's been presented."

Coyle argued that the issue of what "reasonable care" means in the circumstances of this case should be decided by a jury. The Mission Inn asserted Coyle was mistaking breach for duty. Coyle again asserted the dispute in this case concerns what a reasonable person would have done in the circumstances of this case.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
234 Cal. Rptr. 3d 330, 24 Cal. App. 5th 627, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coyle-v-historic-mission-inn-corp-calctapp5d-2018.