Markle v. Hacienda Mexican Restaurant
570 N.E.2d 969, 1991 WL 69557, 1991 Ind. App. LEXIS 699 (1991)
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Rule of Law:
Whether a business invitee who deviates from their primary purpose loses their status as an invitee is a question of fact for the jury if the deviation is an activity that a landowner could reasonably anticipate and that could be considered incidental to the original invitation.
Facts:
- On July 11, 1986, Robert Markle, a salesman, drove to the Easy Shopping Place Shopping Center with the intention of eating at the Hacienda Restaurant.
- Upon entering the parking lot, Markle saw his friend and co-worker, Tim Lusher, sitting in his parked truck.
- Markle stopped his car next to Lusher's truck, outside of a marked parking space.
- Markle asked Lusher to take a twenty-five-pound piece of steel from his car to their workplace the next day.
- Lusher agreed, and Markle got out of his car to transfer the steel to Lusher's truck.
- While lifting the piece of steel, Markle stepped into a chuckhole in the parking lot and fell, injuring his knee.
Procedural Posture:
- Robert Markle sued Hacienda Restaurant and the owners of the Easy Shopping Place Shopping Center (the Shopping Center) in the Elkhart Superior Court, a trial court, alleging negligence.
- The Shopping Center filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that Markle was a licensee, not an invitee, at the time of his injury.
- The trial court granted the Shopping Center's motion for summary judgment, ruling as a matter of law that Markle's status had changed from invitee to licensee.
- Markle, as Plaintiff-Appellant, appealed the trial court's grant of summary judgment to the Court of Appeals of Indiana.
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Issue:
Is the determination of a visitor's legal status as an invitee or licensee a question of fact for the jury when the visitor, after entering the premises for a business purpose, engages in a personal task before completing that purpose?
Opinions:
Majority - Miller, J.
Yes. The determination of a visitor's legal status as an invitee or licensee is a question of fact for the jury where conflicting inferences may be drawn from the visitor's actions. While Markle was indisputably an invitee upon entering the parking lot, his status at the moment of injury depends on whether his actions were incidental to the purpose of his visit. Citing Burrell v. Meads, the court affirmed Indiana's adoption of the 'invitation test,' which focuses on the purpose for which the land is held open, rather than the older 'economic benefit test.' The court reasoned that under Silvestro v. Walz, a visitor does not lose invitee status if engaged in an activity reasonably related or incidental to the invitation. The central question is whether the Shopping Center could have reasonably expected a patron to engage in a brief, personal transaction in its parking lot. Because reasonable people could differ on whether transferring the steel was an incidental act or a complete departure from the invitation's scope, the question is one of fact for a jury to decide, making summary judgment inappropriate.
Analysis:
This decision reinforces the principle that questions of reasonableness in premises liability cases are generally reserved for the trier of fact. By holding that an invitee's status during a deviation from their main purpose is a fact question, the court makes it more difficult for landowners to obtain summary judgment. The ruling clarifies that the 'invitation test' requires a fact-specific inquiry into what activities are 'incidental' to the invitation, which depends on the nature of the property and what is 'usually and customarily' done by visitors there. This precedent strengthens the position of injured plaintiffs by ensuring that juries, rather than judges, will often decide the critical issue of the plaintiff's legal status.
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