SW ex rel. Wacker v. Towers Boat Club, Inc.

2012 COA 77, 318 P.3d 38, 2012 WL 1436152, 2012 Colo. App. LEXIS 642
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 26, 2012
DocketNo. 11CA0935
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2012 COA 77 (SW ex rel. Wacker v. Towers Boat Club, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
SW ex rel. Wacker v. Towers Boat Club, Inc., 2012 COA 77, 318 P.3d 38, 2012 WL 1436152, 2012 Colo. App. LEXIS 642 (Colo. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

Opinion by

Judge TERRY.

T1 As an issue of first impression, we address whether, under the premises lability statute, section 18-21-1115, C.R.S.2011, a child licensee may assert a claim based on the attractive nuisance doctrine. We conclude that a child licensee may not maintain such a claim.

{2 Plaintiffs, SW, David Wacker, and Rhonda Wacker, appeal the trial court's summary judgment in favor of defendant, Towers Boat Club, Inc. (landowner). We affirm.

I. Background

13 On August 2, 2008, SW, then eleven years old, attended a social gathering at Pou-[39]*39dre Reservoir Number 6. While he was playing on an inflatable structure rented by landowner for the gathering, wind lifted the structure into the air and SW fell to the ground, sustaining severe injuries. Plaintiffs eventually settled the claims that they asserted against other defendants.

{4 Plaintiffs asserted two claims against landowner, one for negligence and the other under Colorado's premises liability statute, section 13-21-115. Landowner moved for summary judgment. The trial court granted the motion as to plaintiffs' negligence and premises liability claims. However, the court construed the complaint to include a claim for attractive nuisance, and denied summary judgment as to that claim.

T5 Landowner moved for reconsideration, arguing that the attractive nuisance doctrine was inapplicable to SW. The court agreed and dismissed plaintiffs' attractive nuisance claim. Plaintiffs appeal only the trial court's dismissal of the attractive nuisance claim.

II. Standard of Review

T 6 We review de novo an order granting a motion for summary judgment. Pierson v. Black Canyon Aggregates, Inc., 48 P.3d 1215, 1218 (Colo.2002). Summary judgment is appropriate only where no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id. The nonmoving party is entitled to the benefit of all favorable inferences reasonably drawn from the undisputed facts, and all doubts are resolved against the moving party. A.C. Excavating v. Yacht Club II Homeowners Ass'n, 114 P.3d 862, 865 (Colo.2005).

III. Discussion

T7 We are not persuaded by plaintiffs' contention that the trial court erred in granting landowner's motion for summary judgment.

8 Section 13-21-115(8), C.R.98.2011, classifies entrants upon the land of another as trespassers, licensees, or invitees. As relevant here, that subsection outlines the respective duties that a landowner owes to each class, as follows:

(8)(a) A trespasser may recover only for damages willfully or deliberately caused by the landowner.
(b) A licensee may recover only for damages caused:
(I) By the landowner's unreasonable failure to exercise reasonable care with respect to dangers created by the landowner of which the landowner actually knew; or
(I1) By the landowner's unreasonable failure to warn of dangers not created by the landowner which are not ordinarily present on property of the type involved and of which the landowner actually knew.
(c)(I) ... [An invitee may recover for damages caused by the landowner's unreasonable failure to exercise reasonable care to protect against dangers of which he actually knew or should have known.

§ 18-21-115(8).

T9 The trial court ruled that SW was a licensee, and plaintiffs do not contest that ruling on appeal. Instead, they argue that the trial court erred in ruling that, because SW was not a trespassing child who was enticed onto the property by an attractive nuisance, he could not assert a claim for attractive nuisance. Plaintiffs contend this ruling contravenes the supreme court's holding in Gallegos v. Phipps, 779 P.2d 856, 859 (Colo.1989). We disagree.

A. Attractive Nuisance Doctrine

T 10 Plaintiffs argue that no Colorado appellate decision expressly holds that the attractive nuisance doctrine is limited to trespassing children. They contend that the Colorado decisions addressing attractive nuisance all involve factual scenarios in which a child was trespassing, and thus the issue of whether the doctrine can apply to licensees such as SW has not previously been decided. They further contend that, although SW has been determined to be a licensee, he should be able to invoke the attractive nuisance doctrine.

T11 We disagree that existing Colorado decisions, when construed together with the premises lability statute, leave any doubt about the application of the attractive nuisance doctrine, and conclude the doctrine [40]*40unequivocally applies only to children enticed by an attractive nuisance to trespass on another's property. Thus, the doctrine cannot be applied to SW.

1. History of Attractive Nuisance Doctrine in Colorado

{12 The attractive nuisance doctrine developed to provide legal relief to certain trespassing children who otherwise would be barred from recovery because of Colorado's rule that a landowner owes no duty to make or keep premises safe for a trespasser. See Hayko v. Colorado & Utah Coal Co., 77 Colo. 143, 147, 235 P. 373, 374 (1925), overruled in part by Mile High Fence Co. v. Radovich, 175 Colo. 537, 489 P.2d 308 (1971), superseded by § 18-21-115 as noted in Gallegos, 779 P.2d at 861; see also John W. Grund & J. Kent Miller, 7 Colo. Prac., Personal Injury Practice-Torts and Insurance § 19.5, at 314-15 (2d ed. 2000).

13 The doctrine has since been modified, both by ensuing case law and by statute. Because the history of attractive nuisance doctrine is tied to the general history of premises liability law in Colorado, we briefly summarize the unique history of Colorado premises liability law.

1 14 The supreme court described some of that history in Gallegos, as follows:

Until 1971, the law in Colorado governing landowners'] liability followed the common law's emphasis on whether the injured party was an invitee, licensee, or trespasser. See [Mile High Fence, 175 Colo. at 541, 489 P.2d at 311]; Husser v. School Dist. No. 11, 159 Colo. 590, 593, 413 P.2d 906, 908 (1966). Under the common law, the landowner's liability depended exclusively upon the injured party's status. For example, a landowner had no duty to make or keep his premises safe for a trespasser. Staley v. Security Athletic Ass'n, 152 Colo. 19, 21, 380 P.2d 53, 54 (19683). If, however, the person was a licensee, the owner had a duty not to willfully or wantonly injure the person. Gotch v. K & B Packing & Provision Co., 93 Colo. 276, 278, 25 P.2d 719, 720 (1933), overruled [by Mile High Fence, 175 Colo. 537, 489 P.2d 308].

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Bluebook (online)
2012 COA 77, 318 P.3d 38, 2012 WL 1436152, 2012 Colo. App. LEXIS 642, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sw-ex-rel-wacker-v-towers-boat-club-inc-coloctapp-2012.