Seitz v. Lawrence Bank

138 P.3d 388, 36 Kan. App. 2d 283, 2006 Kan. App. LEXIS 707
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedJuly 21, 2006
DocketNo. 95,051
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 138 P.3d 388 (Seitz v. Lawrence Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Seitz v. Lawrence Bank, 138 P.3d 388, 36 Kan. App. 2d 283, 2006 Kan. App. LEXIS 707 (kanctapp 2006).

Opinion

Green, J.:

Jo Ann Seitz and The Estate of Oscar Beck (collectively Seitz) appeal from the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of The Lawrence Bank (Bank). The sole issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred in finding that Beck was a trespasser instead of a licensee or invitee on the Bank’s property. Because Seitz has failed to bring forth evidence establishing a genuine dispute as to Beck’s status on the property as an invitee or licensee, we determine that the trial court properly granted summary judgment. Accordingly, we affirm.

On the morning of December 4, 2003, Oscar Beck, an 81-year old man, was found lying in die drive-through area of the Bank located at 3500 Clinton Parkway in Lawrence. The Bank is at the intersection of Clinton Parkway and Kasold Drive, one of the busiest intersections in Lawrence. The Bank’s property is adjacent to a shopping center in which a Hy-Vee grocery store is located. On December 4, 2003, the sidewalk on the south side of the Bank along Clinton Parkway was under construction and partially closed.

The Bank’s surveillance videotape from December 4, 2003, shows a person walking up to and standing near the top of a retaining wall on the Bank’s property. The next image on the videotape shows a person lying in the drive-through area of the Bank. When Beck was found, he was lying approximately 5 to 6 feet from the retaining wall on the east side of the Bank. The retaining wall next to where Beck was lying was approximately 30 to 38 inches in [285]*285height. The retaining wall separated the Bank’s drive-through area from a grassy area on the east side of the Bank. The grassy area sloped down from a public sidewalk, which was at least 30 feet from the retaining wall.

It is unknown why Beck was on the Bank’s property. Beck had no connection or accounts with the Bank. The Bank has an ATM machine located at the east end of the drive-thru lanes which is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the use of individuals who are customers of the Bank as well as who are not customers of the Bank. Nevertheless, Beck’s daughter Jo Ann Seitz, with whom Beck was living at the time, indicated that Beck had never visited the Bank.

Jo Ann testified that she really did not know why Beck left the house. Jo Ann speculated that Beck was on his way to Hy-Vee to purchase cigarettes. Jo Ann indicated that although Beck had smoked for years, he had quit smoking after suffering a fall in which he fractured his hip and pelvic bone in July 2003. After his fall, nurses would come into Jo Ann’s home two to three times a week to help Beck with his personal hygiene. Jo Ann indicated that the nurses were still coming into her home in December 2003.

Jo Ann indicated that Beck had never before walked to Hy-Vee. Although Beck frequently took walks with his dog, he only walked approximately Yz to 1 block within the neighborhood. Jo Ann lived approximately Yz mile from where the Bank was located. When questioned about why she speculated that Beck was on his way to Hy-Vee when he had never before left her house to go to Hy-Vee on his own, Jo Ann stated: “Well, he had been to Hy-Vee before but not by himself. I mean he had gone with me. But I just think that he was going for cigarettes. That was just what I speculated. Because he was feeling good and he had not smoked in a long time.”

When Beck was discovered by the Bank’s employees, Beck was wearing pants and a shirt, a light windbrealcer, and house slippers with no socks. The average temperature that day was in the mid-30’s, and the Bank’s employees covered Beck with blankets once he was discovered and an ambulance was called to the scene. Jo Ann indicated that sometime before his earlier fall in July 2003, a [286]*286health care provider had informed her that Beck had suffered a mini-stroke, which was common in older people. Nevertheless, Jo Ann indicated that Beck had a good memory and that he was not having any trouble recognizing people or places.

After Beck was discovered lying in the drive-through area of the Bank, he was taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital and then transferred to the University of Kansas Medical Center. He was admitted for head and left hip injuries secondary to a fall. After approximately 1 month in the hospital, he was transferred to á nursing home. Beck died several days later at the nursing home from acute lobar pneumonia. Other factors contributing to his death included atherosclerotic disease and his previous head and hip injuries. Beck never told his daughter or his grandchildren how he was injured on December 4, 2003. Beck’s daughter indicated that although Beck could communicate with her, he was in a lot of pain, and she did not want to press him for information about the incident.

When the incident occurred, there was no path or other indication that individuals were using the Bank’s lawn as a shortcut. In her deposition on March 18, 2005, the Bank’s teller, Darlene Mountain, testified that she was the only daytime teller at the Bank in the 4 years that she had worked there. Mountain indicated that the evening teller came in at 3 p.m. Mountain indicated that she had seen people cutting through the grassy area east of the Bank above the driveway three times in the 4 years that she had worked there. Mountain testified that some of these incidents occurred before December 4, 2003. Mountain reported one of the incidents to Vickie Knight, the Bank’s executive vice president. According to Mountain, Knight told her that “[w]e need to try to let them know if we catch them not to do that.” Mountain could not remember whether this conversation with Knight occurred before or after December 4, 2003. One of the times that Mountain saw an individual cutting across the grass, she turned on her speaker and told that person not to cut across the grass.

In her deposition, Knight acknowledged that some people walk across the Bank property to get to other buildings in the Hy-Vee shopping center or to the sidewalks. Knight further acknowledged that people can and have walked from Hy-Vee across the Hy-Vee [287]*287parking lot and south across the Bank’s parking lot and then climbed the grassy slope south of the Bank to get to the sidewalk adjacent to Clinton Parkway.

The Bank’s president, Terry Joe Sutcliffe, was unaware of any signs posted outside of the Bank that warned against trespassing. Furthermore, Knight indicated that there was nothing on the Bank’s property on December 4, 2003, which would advise Beck not to walk in the grassy area east of the Bank. There were no signs posted along the sidewalk to warn people that there was a retaining wall on the west side of the grassy slope on the Bank’s property. There was no guardrail along the retaining wall.

In August 2004, Seitz sued the Bank on theories of negligence, negligence per se, nuisance, and strict liability. The Bank moved for summary judgment on all of Seitz’ theories. In responding to the Bank’s summary judgment motion, Seitz stated that summary judgment had been granted on the theories of nuisance based upon the agreement of the parties. In addition, Seitz had withdrawn the negligence per se theory. Moreover, Seitz stated that the parties had agreed that further discovery was necessary on all other issues except Beck’s status on the Bank’s property. At a hearing conducted on the Bank’s summary judgment motion, Seitz contended that Beck was either a public invitee or licensee on the Bank’s property but not a trespasser. On the other hand, the Bank argued that the only evidence in this case was that Beck was a trespasser.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
138 P.3d 388, 36 Kan. App. 2d 283, 2006 Kan. App. LEXIS 707, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/seitz-v-lawrence-bank-kanctapp-2006.