Byers v. Radiant Group, L.L.C.

• Decision Date: 19 October 2007
• Docket Number: No. 2D06-4437.,2D06-4437.
• Citation: 966 So.2d 506
• Parties: Patricia BYERS and Steven Byers; and Todd Miles, individually, and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Todd Byers, deceased, Appellants, v. The RADIANT GROUP, L.L.C., Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

966 So.2d 506

Patricia BYERS and Steven Byers; and Todd Miles, individually, and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Todd Byers, deceased, Appellants, v. The RADIANT GROUP, L.L.C., Appellee.

No. 2D06-4437.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

October 19, 2007.

Jeffrey Lee Gordon of Maney & Gordon, P.A., Tampa; and Deborah L. Appel, Tampa, for Appellants.

Thomas A. Valdez and Robert Santa Lucia of Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, P.A., Tampa, for Appellee.

WALLACE, Judge.

The plaintiffs in a premises liability action appeal a summary final judgment in favor of the landowner. Because the resolution of the dispositive liability questions in this case depends on the determination of disputed issues of material fact, we reverse the summary final judgment and remand for further proceedings.

I. THE FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Shortly before midnight on September 14, 2003, Todd Byers (Todd) drove his automobile into the parking lot of the Radiant Food Store located on State Road 54 in Pasco County.¹ The Radiant Food Store is a convenience store and retail fuel outlet. The store also houses a sandwich shop. Todd was accompanied by his brother, Steven Byers (Steven); Steven's wife, Patricia Byers (Patricia); and an acquaintance, Julie Barilleaux.

Steven left the car and went into the store to purchase milk. Inside the store, he remembered that his brother was going fishing the next morning with a friend. For this reason, he ordered two sandwiches for Todd and his companion to take with them on their fishing trip. After Steven had paid for the milk and sandwiches, he returned to Todd's vehicle.

As the Byers party was pulling out of their parking space, they encountered another vehicle that had just entered the store's parking lot. The second vehicle was occupied by Timothy Hahn, Eddie Prince, Courtney Bryant, and Ryan Gobel. As a result of a driving-related issue, some of the occupants of the two vehicles exchanged words. Next, some members of the Hahn party removed baseball bats from the trunk of their vehicle, and the conflict rapidly escalated. A brawl in the parking lot between some members of the Byers party and some members of the Hahn party ensued. Todd, Steven, and Patricia each had some degree of involvement in the brawl. However, a review of the record discloses substantial issues of fact concerning the nature and extent of Patricia's participation.

This unfortunate incident came to a tragic end when Timothy Hahn twice drove his vehicle directly into Todd and Patricia, pinning them against the store's wall.² Todd died at the scene as a result of his injuries, and Patricia was seriously injured. Hahn was subsequently convicted of murdering Todd and attempting to murder Patricia.

II. THE CIRCUIT COURT'S RULING

Patricia and the personal representative of Todd's estate filed a negligence action against Hahn and The Radiant Group, L.L.C., the store's owner (the Owner). Steven asserted a claim for loss of consortium. After the action was at issue, the Owner moved for summary judgment. The circuit court granted the motion. The circuit court ruled that when Todd and Patricia "changed their actions from customers to instigators of violence, they lost their status as business invitees and became uninvited licensees or trespassers." The circuit court concluded that the Owner did not breach any of the limited duties that it owed to Todd and Patricia as uninvited licensees or trespassers. Based on this reasoning, the circuit court dismissed with prejudice the action against the Owner. On appeal, Steven, Patricia, and the personal representative of Todd's estate challenge the circuit court's ruling.

III. THE STANDARD OF REVIEW

Review of a summary judgment is de novo, requiring a two-pronged analysis. Volusia County v. Aberdeen at Ormond Beach, L.P., 760 So.2d 126, 130 (Fla.2000). First, a summary judgment is proper only if there is no genuine issue of material fact, viewing every possible inference in favor of the party against whom summary judgment has been entered. Huntington Nat'l Bank v. Merrill Lynch Credit Corp., 779 So.2d 396, 398 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). Second, if there is no genuine issue of material fact, a summary judgment is proper only if the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Aberdeen at Ormond Beach, 760 So.2d at 130.

IV. ANALYSIS

A. The Owner's Argument

If the liability of a possessor of land is predicated on an alleged defective or dangerous condition on his or her property, the extent of the duty of care that the possessor of land owes to a visitor to the property depends on whether the visitor is an invitee, licensee, or trespasser.³ Here, the Owner concedes that Todd and Patricia were initially invitees on the store's premises.⁴ However, the Owner asserts that after the occupants of the Byers vehicle had completed their purchases at the store, they "purposely and intentionally stayed on the [Owner's] property to engage in a confrontation and physical brawl." Based on this assessment of the record, the Owner argues that "the [circuit] court was undeniably correct in ruling that the Byers had exceeded the scope of their invitation and devolved from invitees to uninvited licensees or trespassers." We disagree with the Owner's argument because the material disputed issues of fact before the circuit court at summary judgment precluded the circuit court from making such a ruling.

B. A Visitor's Change in Status

The status of a visitor to land possessed by another may change from one of the three categories to another. See, e.g., Brant v. Matlin, 172 So.2d 902, 904 (Fla. 3d DCA 1965) (holding that the status of a social guest who was invited to the defendant's home to attend the bar mitzvah of the defendant's son changed from that of a licensee to an invitee when the defendant and his wife asked the guest to remain at the home after the event had concluded to take care of the house and to act as a governess for their children while the defendant and his wife went on vacation). The issue of the visitor's status as an invitee, licensee, or trespasser is to be determined as of the time that the visitor is injured. See Fla. E. Coast Ry. Co. v. Pickard, 573 So.2d 850, 855 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990); Brant, 172 So.2d at 904.

An invitee may lose his status and become a licensee or trespasser by going to a part of the premises that is beyond the scope of his or her invitation. See Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. McClain, 167 F.2d 130, 131 (5th Cir.1948) (apparently applying Florida law); Hickory House, Inc. v. Brown, 77 So.2d 249, 252 (Fla.1955); Dunlop v. Reynolds, 204 So.2d 754, 755 (Fla. 2d DCA 1967); Dougherty v. Hernando County, 419 So.2d 679, 681 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982). See generally W. Page Keeton et al., Prosser and Keeton on Torts § 61, at 424-25 (5th ed. 1984); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 332 cmt. l (1965). Similarly, "an invitee ceases to be an invitee after the expiration of a reasonable time within which to accomplish the purpose for which he is invited to enter, or to remain." Restatement (Second) of Torts, supra; see Keeton et al., supra, at 425.

C. Analysis

In this case, Patricia and Todd did not exceed the scope of their invitation by going to a part of the premises that was off-limits to customers of the store; the store's parking lot was an area designated for use by customers. Moreover, Patricia and Todd did not remain on the store premises for an unreasonable amount of time after they had completed their business at the store. As soon as Steven returned to Todd's vehicle with the milk and sandwiches, their party prepared to leave. It was at that point that the ill-fated episode in the parking lot began.

The circuit court did not rule that Patricia and Todd lost their status as invitees by entering a part of the store's premises that was off-limits to customers. Nor did the circuit court find that Patricia and Todd remained on the premises after the expiration of a reasonable amount of time to conclude their business. Instead, the circuit court concluded that Patricia and Todd forfeited their status as invitees solely because of their behavior on the property, i.e., when they became "instigators of violence." We find no support in Florida law for the proposition that a store patron can lose his status as an invitee and become an uninvited licensee or trespasser merely because he or she engages in a violent act or acts against other customers on the store's premises.⁵ Indeed, to the extent that Florida case law addresses this issue at all, it is to the contrary.

A person who is injured during a brawl with another person's assailant may still retain his status as an invitee on the premises where the brawl occurred. Hardy v. Pier 99 Motor Inn, 664 So.2d 1095 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995). In Hardy, a hotel patron witnessed a stranger stab the patron's friend. Id. at 1096. The patron then "brawled" with the stranger in the hotel parking lot, sustaining a serious stab wound. Id. The patron filed an action for damages against the hotel, the assailant, and a security guard who was on duty at the hotel when the incident occurred. Id. The circuit court entered a summary judgment in favor of the hotel and the security guard, and the patron appealed. Id. at 1097.

On appeal, the First District reversed the summary judgment that had been entered in favor of the hotel. Id. at 1098. The district court's opinion addressed the issue of the foreseeability of the criminal attack by the assailant rather than the patron's status as an invitee, a licensee, or a trespasser. Id. at 1097-98. Nevertheless, the First District's analysis assumed that the hotel patron's status as an invitee did not change after he "brawled" with a stranger in the parking lot. Thus the result in Hardy is consistent with the conclusion that we reach in this case.

We acknowledge the possibility that the commission of a particular act of violence on premises owned or occupied by another might cause an...