Ouradnik v. Ouradnik

912 N.W.2d 674
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedJune 6, 2018
DocketA16-1516
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 912 N.W.2d 674 (Ouradnik v. Ouradnik) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ouradnik v. Ouradnik, 912 N.W.2d 674 (Mich. 2018).

Opinion

McKEIG, Justice.

Respondent Corey Ouradnik ("Son") sued his father, appellant Robert Ouradnik ("Father"), after he fell from a deer stand on Father's property and was injured. The Pine County District Court granted partial summary judgment in favor of Father, holding that he was entitled to recreational-use immunity under Minn. Stat. §§ 604A.20 -.27 (2016) ("the Recreational-Use Statute"), allowing Son to proceed to trial to seek recovery under only the trespasser exception to the statute. The court of appeals reversed, holding that the Recreational-Use Statute did not apply because Father did not offer his land for use by the public. We affirm.

FACTS

Father owns 40 acres of land where he allows his immediate family to hunt. Father does not allow anyone outside of his immediate family to hunt on his land, and has posted at least one "No Trespassing" sign to deter non-family members. Father excluded extended family, Son's friends, and members of the general public from hunting on his land.

*676Father built approximately five tree stands on his land for deer hunting. When he first built the tree stands, Father affixed the boards to the trees with nails. In 2012, Father began to replace the nails with 6-inch screws, but did not have enough screws to re-fasten every board. Some boards remained affixed by nails.

On November 10, 2012, Son was climbing into one of the deer stands on Father's property when he grabbed a board that was still secured by nails. The board came loose and Son fell 16 feet to the ground, breaking both his legs and his left foot.

Son commenced a personal injury suit against Father on May 22, 2015. Father moved for summary judgment on the ground of recreational-use immunity. The Pine County District Court granted Father's motion "insofar as ... Minn. Stat. § 604A.22 [was] applicable in this case," but denied the motion "insofar as the case [could not] be dismissed due to factual disputes pertaining to [Son's] ability to recover under the trespasser exception [ Minn. Stat. § 604A.25 ]." At trial, and based solely on the trespasser theory, the jury concluded that Son was 95 percent negligent. Based on this verdict, the district court entered judgment in favor of Father.

Son appealed. The court of appeals determined that the district court had erred by failing to give effect to Minn. Stat. § 604A.20, which provides that the purpose of the Recreational-Use Statute is to "encourage and promote the use of ... privately owned lands and waters by the public for beneficial recreational purposes." Ouradnik v. Ouradnik , 897 N.W.2d 300, 304 (Minn. App. 2017) (quoting Minn. Stat. § 604A.20 ) (emphasis in original). The court of appeals also relied on our decision in Hughes v. Quarve & Anderson Co. , 338 N.W.2d 422 (Minn. 1983), which the court of appeals said stands for the proposition that "the recreational-use statute is interpreted by giving effect to the legislature's express policy statement." Ouradnik , 897 N.W.2d at 305. "Thus," the court of appeals continued, "the district court erred when it failed to recognize that the recreational-use statute requires public use before ascertaining whether the landowner has satisfied [ Minn. Stat. § 604A.22 's] three elements required to limit liability." Id. The court of appeals further held that the Recreational-Use Statute was unambiguous, and that the plain meaning of "public" was "community, which is more than a few family members." Id. at 306. Accordingly, the court of appeals reversed the district court and remanded the case for a new trial. Id. at 309. We granted Father's petition for review.

ANALYSIS

I.

Father's appeal challenges the court of appeals' interpretation of the Recreational-Use Statute. We review questions of statutory interpretation de novo. Cocchiarella v. Driggs , 884 N.W.2d 621, 624 (Minn. 2016).

A.

If a landowner (1) "gives written or oral permission," (2) "for the use of the land for recreational purposes," (3) "without charge," then that landowner is entitled to recreational-use immunity. Minn. Stat. § 604A.22. This immunity means that the landowner's only duty of care is to "refrain from willfully taking action to cause injury."1 Minn. Stat. § 604A.22(3).

*677The parties agree that Father met all three requirements of section 604A.22.

Minnesota Statutes § 604.20, however, provides that the Recreational-Use Statute, including Minn. Stat. § 604A.22, was enacted "to encourage and promote the use of ... privately owned lands and waters by the public for beneficial recreational purposes." Minn. Stat. § 604A.20. The parties disagree on whether the phrase "by the public" in section 604A.20 means that the land must be offered for public use before section 604A.22 is triggered. Father argues that a landowner is entitled to recreational-use immunity if all three requirements listed in section 604A.22 are met, while Son argues that section 604A.22 can only take effect if section 604A.20 is first satisfied.

The Legislature defined many terms related to recreational use, but did not define what it meant to be "offered to the public." See Minn. Stat. § 604A.21. "Our previous interpretation of a statute guides us in determining its meaning." Engquist v. Loyas , 803 N.W.2d 400, 404-05 (Minn. 2011). In Hughes v. Quarve & Anderson Co. , we considered whether recreational immunity shielded a defendant from liability to a minor who dove into a quarry pond and was permanently injured. 338 N.W.2d at 423, 427. The quarry had attempted to exclude trespassers from the property, including "call[ing] for police aid to evict trespassers on numerous occasions" and posting "one rusted, shot-up metal No Trespassing sign."

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ayers v. Kalal
925 N.W.2d 291 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2019)
Getz v. Peace
918 N.W.2d 233 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2018)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
912 N.W.2d 674, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ouradnik-v-ouradnik-minn-2018.