Home/Washington Supreme Court/McKinnon v. Washington Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n

McKinnon v. Washington Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n

414 P.2d 773, 68 Wash. 2d 644, 1966 Wash. LEXIS 784
Washington Supreme Court·Decided May 26, 1966·No. No. 38301·Published·Cited by 36 cases

Opinion

Barnett, J.†

This appeal is taken from an order of dismissal against plaintiffs in their action to recover damages for personal injuries suffered by Mrs. McKinnon as the result of a fall sustained on the property of defendant Washington Federal Savings and Loan Association. In the complaint, plaintiffs alleged that defendants had breached the duty of care owed Mrs. McKinnon, an invitee. Pretrial depositions and written interrogatories were taken. At the commencement of the trial, defendants moved to dismiss. Argument was heard and the motion was granted upon agreed facts, i.e., those most favorable to plaintiffs, as evidenced by the depositions, offers of proof, certain exhibits, and the colloquy of counsel before .the court. These undisputed facts follow.

On March 5,1962, defendant Washington Federal Savings and Loan Association opened its doors for business in the Snohomish County community of Lynnwood. To mark this occasion, the association conducted an “open house” for a period of 3 days. During this time, a 4 by 8 foot sign was displayed within the premises, which bore the following:

This room and adjoining kitchen facilities are available for the free use of local clubs and organized groups for meetings and conferences, either during regular office hours or in the evenings. Arrangements can be made in [646] advance by contacting any one of the staff members. Courtesy of Washington Federal Savings.

Several organizations did, in fact, make use of the association’s facilities for regular meetings,1 one of which was Girl Scout Group 1147, which met there three times a month, and had done so from the time the premises became available.

The rooms utilized by the various groups consisted of a kitchen and a conference room located at the rear of the business premises. It was the practice of the Girl Scout group to enter the meeting room through the back door of the building, the key to which was usually obtained by one of the adult leaders from an employee of defendant association. A cement sidewalk, some 4 feet in width, approached the building at an oblique angle, then jutted to the left so as to meet the rear wall — and back door — of the building at a right angle. Near the inside apex of the angle forméd by the sidewalk, some 3 inches from its edge, was a sprinkler nozzle. This device, part of an underground sprinkler system owned by the association, projected upward to a point somewhat above the level of the adjacent sidewalk. A view of the sidewalk, the sprinkler nozzle, and the rear of the building is shown by the photograph on the following page, an éxhibit.in the case.

In the evening of March 19, 1964,'plaintiff Muriel McKin-non, adult leader of the Girl Scout group, approached the back door of the association’s premises, where a meeting was then scheduled. As she walked along, Mrs. McKinnon swung her left foot over the edge of the sidewalk, caught the sprink[647] ler head, and went sprawling, sustaining the injuries for which she now seeks redress.

In granting defendants’ motion to dismiss, the court entered the following order:

The above-entitled action came on regularly for trial on October 21, 1964, and at the beginning thereof Washington Federal Savings and Loan Association moved for an order of dismissal in the nature of summary judgment based upon the depositions of Muriel McKinnon and James H. D. Young heretofore filed 'and published herein, and upon defendants’ Exhibit 1, being a photograph, and [648] upon plaintiffs’ Exhibit 2, being a large cardboard sign, and upon the offer of proof by the above-named plaintiffs, and upon the agreed facts as contained in the colloquy between counsel and the court, all of which are a part of the record herein; now, therefore, the court hereby

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McKinnon v. Washington Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n, 414 P.2d 773, 68 Wash. 2d 644, 1966 Wash. LEXIS 784 (Wash. 1966).

414 P.2d 773 (McKinnon v. Washington Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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