Sanders v. Perfecting Church

840 N.W.2d 401, 303 Mich. App. 1
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 16, 2013
DocketDocket No. 308416
StatusPublished
Cited by131 cases

This text of 840 N.W.2d 401 (Sanders v. Perfecting Church) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sanders v. Perfecting Church, 840 N.W.2d 401, 303 Mich. App. 1 (Mich. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

WILDER, J.

In this slip and fall case, plaintiff, Brenda Sanders, appeals as of right the trial court’s order granting summary disposition in favor of defendant and denying her motion for reconsideration. Plaintiff also challenges the trial court’s order denying her motion to amend her complaint and the order denying her motion to compel discovery.1 We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

On July 8, 2007, plaintiff slipped and fell on motor oil that was located in defendant church’s parking lot. Plaintiff filed the instant action, alleging that she was an [3]*3invitee at the time of the injury and that she was injured as a result of defendant’s failure to inspect for and protect her from dangerous conditions on its property. Before the close of discovery defendant moved for summary disposition. Defendant alleged that plaintiff was a licensee at the time she was injured and that, even if she was an invitee, it did not owe her a duty pursuant to the open and obvious danger doctrine. After the hearing, the trial court found that there was a question of fact regarding whether the oil was an open and obvious condition and denied defendant’s motion for summary disposition. The trial court further found, as a matter of law, that plaintiff was a licensee at the time that she was injured. Plaintiff moved the trial court to reconsider its decision and requested that she be able to submit the question of her status as an invitee or licensee to the jury. After a hearing, the trial court denied plaintiffs motion and announced sua sponte that it had reconsidered its prior denial of summary disposition and granted dismissal in favor of defendant because it concluded that plaintiff was a licensee.

II. ANALYSIS

A. SUMMARY DISPOSITION

Plaintiff first argues that the trial court erred by granting summary disposition in favor of defendant because there was a material question of fact with regard to her status as an invitee at the time that she was injured. We disagree.

A trial court’s determination regarding a motion for summary disposition is reviewed de novo. Smith v Globe Life Ins Co, 460 Mich 446, 454; 597 NW2d 28 (1999). Although the trial court did not identify the subrule under which it granted summary disposition, it is apparent that the motion was granted under MCR 2.116(C)(10) because [4]*4the trial court considered documentary evidence beyond the parties’ pleadings. Cuddington v United Health Servs, Inc, 298 Mich App 264, 270; 826 NW2d 519 (2012).

A motion under MCR 2.116(0(10) tests the factual sufficiency of a claim. Dalley v Dykema Gossett PLLC, 287 Mich App 296, 304 n 3; 788 NW2d 679 (2010). In reviewing a motion for summary disposition brought under MCR 2.116(0(10), this Court considers “affidavits, pleadings, depositions, admissions, and documentary evidence filed in the action or submitted by the parties, in a light most favorable to the party opposing the motion.” Smith, 460 Mich at 454 (quotation marks and citations omitted). A trial court may grant a motion for summary disposition under MCR 2.116(0(10) if the affidavits or other documentary evidence show that there is no genuine issue with respect to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id.

“In a premises liability action, a plaintiff must prove the elements of negligence: (1) the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty, (2) the defendant breached that duty, (3) the breach was the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury, and (4) the plaintiff suffered damages.” Benton v Dart Props Inc, 270 Mich App 437, 440; 715 NW2d 335 (2006). The duty owed to a visitor by a landowner depends on whether the visitor was a trespasser, licensee, or invitee at the time of the injury. Hoffner v Lanctoe, 492 Mich 450, 460 n 8; 821 NW2d 88 (2012).

A “trespasser” is a person who enters upon another’s land, without the landowner’s consent. The landowner owes no duty to the trespasser except to refrain from injuring him by “willful and wanton” misconduct.
A “licensee” is a person who is privileged to enter the land of another by virtue of the possessor’s consent. A [5]*5landowner owes a licensee a duty only to warn the licensee of any hidden dangers the owner knows or has reason to know of, if the licensee does not know or have reason to know of the dangers involved. The landowner owes no duty of inspection or affirmative care to make the premises safe for the licensee’s visit. .. .
The final category is invitees. An “invitee” is “a person who enters upon the land of another upon an invitation which carries with it an implied representation, assurance, or understanding that reasonable care has been used to prepare the premises, and make [it] safe for [the invitee’s] reception.” The landowner has a duty of care, not only to warn the invitee of any known dangers, but the additional obligation to also make the premises safe, which requires the landowner to inspect the premises and, depending upon the circumstances, make any necessary repairs or warn of any discovered hazards. Thus, an invitee is entitled to the highest level of protection under premises liability law. [Stitt v Holland Abundant Life Fellowship, 462 Mich 591, 596-597; 614 NW2d 88 (2000) (citations omitted) (alterations in original).]

In the present case, there is no dispute that plaintiff was not a trespasser; thus, the question is whether she was a licensee or an invitee. In Stitt, our Supreme Court held that a plaintiff will be granted invitee status only if the purpose for which she was invited onto the owner’s property was “directly tied to the owner’s commercial business interests.” Id. at 603-604. “Absent a showing that the church’s invitation to attend its services was for an essential commercial purpose, [a plaintiff] should be considered a licensee and not an invitee. A person who attends church as a guest enjoys the ‘unrecompensed hospitality’ provided by the church in the same way that a person entering the home of a friend would.” Id. at 606 (emphasis added).

While it is undisputed that plaintiff intended to attend Sunday church service on defendant’s property [6]*6on the day that she was injured, she later asserted in an affidavit that she also was going to purchase a meal at defendant’s café after the service. Related to the café, defendant’s business manager, Cynthia Williams, stated in an affidavit that the meals are available for purchase “by those who attended services at a minimal cost.” She further averred that “there are no and/or minimal proceeds from the sale of these meals over and above the cost of their preparation” and that if there are any proceeds, they are placed into the church’s general fund “as an additional form of minimal contribution.”

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Bluebook (online)
840 N.W.2d 401, 303 Mich. App. 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sanders-v-perfecting-church-michctapp-2013.