Davis v. Kwik-Shop, Inc., KWIK-SHO
| Decision Date | 25 August 1993 |
| Docket Number | INC,HY-VEE,KWIK-SHO,No. 91-1517,91-1517 |
| Citation | 504 N.W.2d 877 |
| Parties | Thomas E. DAVIS, Appellee, v., Appellant., Appellant, v.FOOD STORES, INC., Appellee. Thomas E. DAVIS, Appellant, v.FOOD STORES, INC., Appellee. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
George A. Goebel and Mike Walker of Goebel & Koury Law Offices, Davenport, for appellant Tom Davis.
Realff H. Ottesen of Ottesen, Hoffman & Priester, Davenport, for appellant Kwik-Shop, Inc.
John D. Telleen of Lane & Waterman, Davenport, for appellee Hy-Vee Food Stores, Inc.
Considered by McGIVERIN, C.J., and SCHULTZ, LAVORATO, NEUMAN, and ANDREASEN, JJ.
In this appeal from a tort action, we must consider whether a grocery store owner owes a duty to plaintiff for injuries suffered on an adjoining business' property at the hands of assailants who had earlier been on the grocery store's premises. Plaintiff Tom E. Davis was never on the premises of defendant Hy-Vee Food Stores, Inc. (Hy-Vee), but was stabbed by one of the assailants while on the defendant Kwik-Shop, Inc.'s premises. In response to Hy-Vee's motion for summary judgment, the district court dismissed all actions against Hy-Vee arising out of plaintiff's injury. We affirm.
In the early morning of June 7, 1989, Davis had a fight with Willie Pruitt in the Kwik-Shop parking lot. While Davis and Pruitt were fighting, one of Pruitt's companions, Daniel Lopez, stabbed Davis in the back.
Prior to the fight, Pruitt, Lopez, and several of their friends were in and around the Hy-Vee and the Hy-Vee employee's parking lot. The Hy-Vee employee's parking lot and the Kwik-Shop property are adjacent.
While on Hy-Vee's property, assailants reportedly displayed a knife and shoved a customer entering the store. In the Hy-Vee employee's parking lot, the assailants displayed aggressive, threatening behavior to several off-duty Hy-Vee employees. At least one of the employees was familiar with the assailants, spoke with them and determined they had been drinking and had weapons. Hy-Vee's employees avoided a physical confrontation by getting into their cars and leaving the lot. Before leaving the parking lot, an employee heard the assailants say they were going to go over to the Kwik-Shop to see what "some guys" were doing or "kick their ass."
Davis and his companions were at the Kwik-Shop by the gas pumps when assailants confronted them. Pruitt approached Davis and asked, "Are you laughing at me?" Davis replied "No." Pruitt said, "You better not be." Davis told Pruitt, "You better get out of here, nigger, before you get hurt." Pruitt asked Davis if he had a "piece." Davis reportedly responded that he wasn't "packing a piece," he was just "packing his fists."
Pruitt pulled a knife on Davis who then told him that if he wanted to fight he should get rid of the knife. Pruitt threw the knife aside and the fight began. Davis had Pruitt on the ground and was on top of him when Lopez stabbed him in the back. After the stabbing, Davis' friends chased the assailants back to their van still parked in the Hy-Vee employee's parking lot. Another assailant had remained with the van and helped the others escape by pointing a shotgun at Davis' friends.
Davis is paralyzed as a result of the stab wound he received in the fight. He brought an action against Kwik-Shop who then filed a third party action against Hy-Vee. Davis amended his petition to allege a direct claim against Hy-Vee. Hy-Vee filed a motion for summary judgment which Davis and Kwik-Shop resisted. The district court ruled that under the circumstances of the case, Hy-Vee owed no duty of care to Davis and sustained Hy-Vee's motion. Davis and defendant Kwik-Shop appeal the court's ruling and have prepared a joint brief. For the sake of convenience, we shall generally refer to their claims as those of plaintiffs. The issues plaintiffs raise are whether Hy-Vee had a duty to protect Davis from the assailants and whether there is a genuine issue of material fact in this case.
I. Plaintiffs argue that because assailants were invitees on Hy-Vee's property, Hy-Vee had a duty to control them and protect Davis from harm. They urge that assailants' presence, as invitees on Hy-Vee's property, created a special relation requiring Hy-Vee to control assailants and prevent injury to another.
Fundamental principles of tort law govern our review. A violation of a legal right by a wrongdoer is a prerequisite to obtaining redress for a claimed wrong. Kelly v....
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...held that the business owner's duty to protect patrons from third parties ends when they leave the premises. See Davis v. Kwik-Shop, Inc. , 504 N.W.2d 877, 879 (Iowa 1993) (holding that because the fight occurred after the attackers left its parking lot, Hy-Vee no longer had a special relat......
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