Holzheimer v. Johannesen
| Decision Date | 16 March 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. 20205,20205 |
| Citation | 871 P.2d 814,125 Idaho 397 |
| Parties | Allen J. HOLZHEIMER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Erling JOHANNESEN doing business as Johannesen Farms, Defendant-Respondent. |
| Court | Idaho Supreme Court |
Ellis, Brown & Sheils, Chtd., Boise, for appellant. Allen B. Ellis argued.
Saetrum & Day, Boise, for respondent. David E. Day argued.
The parties to this appeal are both fruit orchard owners in Emmett, Idaho. This appeal arises from a suit filed by Holzheimer for personal injuries he suffered after he fell from a stack of boxes in Johannesen's warehouse. Holzheimer contends that he was injured in the warehouse while retrieving fruit packing boxes which he was purchasing from Johannesen. He maintains that he was a business invitee entitled to a higher standard of care than a licensee.
On July 2, 1990, Holzheimer went to Johannesen's fruit farm to purchase or borrow "L.A. lug" (lid attached) fruit packing boxes. Testimony at trial demonstrated that the farmers in the Emmett area routinely sold at cost or loaned packing boxes to each other, as needed, as a favor to one another. Four days prior to the accident, William McConnell, the foreman at Johannesen's fruit farm, took Holzheimer into the warehouse and pointed out where the boxes were stored. He showed Holzheimer how he could retrieve them in the future by himself. McConnell informed Holzheimer that if he needed additional boxes in the future he could retrieve them on his own.
On the day of the accident, July 4, 1990, Holzheimer entered the Johannesen warehouse to obtain more boxes. The pallets of boxes were arranged in rows with gaps between the stacks of pallets. In addition, some of the boxes were "chimney stacked" on the pallets in such a way that there was an eight to ten inch hole in the center of the pallets. There was also an inventory area left open in the middle of the rows in the warehouse. In order to retrieve the boxes, Holzheimer apparently climbed on top of the pallets and in the process fell into the center of them, suffering head and shoulders injuries.
Holzheimer filed a complaint for personal injuries. Johannesen answered and asserted that Holzheimer was a licensee when he entered the warehouse and was only entitled to a lower standard of care. Johannesen filed a summary judgment motion asking the court to rule, as a matter of law, that Holzheimer was a licensee and that Johannesen did not violate the standard of care owed to a licensee. The court denied the motion and ruled that Holzheimer's status while in the warehouse was a question of fact for the jury.
At trial, Holzheimer attempted to introduce into evidence invoices of past sales of fruit and boxes between himself and Johannesen, to which Johannesen objected. The court sustained the objection and excluded evidence of past fruit sales, but allowed the invoices to be modified so that they still showed past box sales, in order to establish a past business relationship between the parties regarding fruit boxes.
After the evidence was presented at trial Johannesen moved for a directed verdict, asking the court to rule as a matter of law that Johannesen had not breached his duty owed to Holzheimer as a licensee. The court denied the motion. The court instructed the jury that there was a question of fact as to whether Holzheimer was an invitee or licensee and then gave the jury an instruction defining both and setting forth the appropriate standards of care. Holzheimer objected to the jury instruction regarding licensee status on the ground that it was not supported by the evidence. The jury found for Johannesen, although there is nothing in the verdict form from which it can be determined on which definition they relied.
On appeal, Holzheimer asserts that he was an invitee as a matter of law and that the jury should not have been instructed on licensee status or the standard of care owed to a licensee. In addition, he asserts that the district court committed reversible error by excluding as irrelevant evidence of past fruit sales contained in the invoices.
Holzheimer argues that any visitor on another's property for a business purpose is an invitee as a matter of law. He argues that he was an invitee because he was visiting the Johannesen fruit farm for the purpose of acquiring boxes, which is a business purpose connected with the Johannesen's fruit farm business, and that his visit to the Johannesen farm rendered a benefit to Johannesen.
Idaho courts have maintained that the duty of owners and possessors of land is determined by the status of the person injured on the land (i.e., whether the person is a invitee, licensee or trespasser). E.g., Rehwalt v. American Falls Reservoir, Dist. No. 2, 97 Idaho 634, 636, 550 P.2d 137, 139 (1976).
[125 Idaho 400] An invitee is one who enters upon the premises of another for a purpose connected with the business conducted on the land, or where it can reasonably be said that the visit may confer a business, commercial, monetary or other tangible benefit to the landowner. Wilson v. Bogert, 81 Idaho 535, 347 P.2d 341 (1959). A landowner owes an invitee the duty to keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition, or to warn of hidden or concealed dangers. Bates v. Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, 114 Idaho 252, 253, 755 P.2d 1290, 1291 (1988). A licensee is a visitor who goes upon the premises of another with the consent of the landowner in pursuit of the visitor's purpose. See Pincock v. McCoy, 48 Idaho 227, 281 P. 371 (1929); Evans v. Park, 112 Idaho 400, 732 P.2d 369 (Ct.App.1987). Likewise, a social guest is also a licensee. Wilson, 81 Idaho at 545, 347 P.2d at 347. The duty owed to a licensee is narrow. A landowner is only required to share with the licensee knowledge of dangerous conditions or
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