Whelan v. Van Natta
1964 Ky. LEXIS 338, 382 S.W.2d 205 (1964)
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Rule of Law:
A business visitor's status as an invitee, and the high duty of care owed by the property owner, is limited to the areas of the premises held open for the business purpose; if the visitor enters a non-public area for their own convenience, even with permission, their status changes to that of a licensee, to whom a lesser duty of care is owed.
Facts:
- Thomas A. Whelan had been a regular customer at Clarence E. Van Natta's grocery store for ten years.
- On March 20, 1961, Whelan entered the store and purchased cigarettes.
- After the purchase, Whelan asked Van Natta for an empty box for his son.
- Van Natta, who was busy with other customers, told Whelan, “Go back in the back room. You will find some back there.”
- Whelan, who had never been in the storage room before, entered the dark room.
- After his eyes adjusted, he saw a box but found it was full.
- He then walked further into the dim room toward a window and fell into an open, unseen stairwell, sustaining injuries.
Procedural Posture:
- Thomas A. Whelan filed a lawsuit against Clarence E. Van Natta in a Kentucky trial court, seeking damages for personal injuries.
- The trial court entered a judgment in favor of the defendant, Van Natta.
- Whelan, as the appellant, appealed the trial court's judgment to the Court of Appeals of Kentucky.
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Issue:
Does a business owner's duty of care to a customer change from that owed to an invitee to that owed to a licensee when the customer, after completing a purchase and with permission, enters a non-public storage area for a purpose of their own and is subsequently injured by an unseen hazard?
Opinions:
Majority - Montgomery, Judge
Yes, the business owner's duty of care changes. A customer's status as an invitee converts to that of a licensee when they venture beyond the scope of the business invitation into non-public areas, even with the owner's consent. The court reasoned that an invitation to a business premise extends only to the parts of the land where the owner desires the customer to be for the purpose of the business transaction. By entering the private storage room for his own purpose (to get a box), Whelan exceeded the scope of his invitation as a customer. Citing the Restatement (Second) of Torts and prior case law like Lerman Brothers v. Lewis, the court determined Whelan became a licensee, to whom Van Natta only owed a duty to abstain from willful harm or to warn of known hidden perils. Furthermore, the court found Whelan was contributorily negligent by voluntarily entering a dark, unfamiliar room without looking for a light and proceeding despite the obvious hazard of poor visibility, thereby assuming the risk of any unseen dangers.
Analysis:
This case clarifies the 'scope of invitation' doctrine in premises liability, establishing that a visitor's legal status can change during a single visit. The decision solidifies the principle that an invitee's protected status is spatially and purposively limited to the business areas of a property. It serves as a precedent for downgrading a visitor's status to licensee when they enter private areas for personal convenience, significantly reducing the landowner's liability. The ruling also reinforces the defense of contributory negligence (or assumption of risk) against plaintiffs who proceed into dark and unfamiliar spaces, placing a burden of caution on the visitor.
