Wukaloff v. Malibou Lake Mountain Club
| Decision Date | 20 February 1950 |
| Citation | 214 P.2d 832,96 Cal.App.2d 147 |
| Parties | WUKALOFF et al. v. MALIBOU LAKE MOUNTAIN CLUB, Limited. Civ. 17075. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
Engene S. Ives, Los Angeles, for appellant.
Melvin Simon, A. J. O'Connor, Los Angeles, for respondents.
Defendant has appealed from a judgment entered upon a verdict in favor of plaintiffs as damages for personal injuries received by plaintiff Antonia Wukaloff upon defendant's premises.
On or about January 10, 1947, plaintiffs and defendant, through the chairman of the latter's house committee, entered into an oral agreement whereby plaintiffs were to operate the dining room and attend to the rental of club rooms to members. The terms of the oral agreement were reduced to writing by the chairman of the house committee. The parties agree that the memorandum, though not signed, embodied the terms of the oral agreement with one exception, to wit, that the officers of the club determined the price of meals and room rental, and service could not be given to any persons other than club members and their guests. It reads as follows:
'1--Mr. & Mrs. Wukoloff to take charge of all food, beverage and lodgings at Malibou Lake Mt. Club with no lease.
2--Mr. & Mrs. Wukoloff to pay club----
a--5% on all gross of food and beverage sales
b--20% on all room rentals
c--To pay for all gas used in the kitchen
d--To serve dinners from 1.50, 2.00 and up, & ala carte.
Childrens portion at half price.
e--To keep all parts of the club house and club rooms clean within the four walls.
f--To pay all expenses for operation of this business including help and materials used in cleaning
3--Malibou Lake Mt. Club will
a--Keep all electric equipment, plumbing, painting, and decorating in good condition.
b--Furnish electricity and oil for heating club house and rooms.
d--Keep outside of club house in good condition.
e--Buy all stock on hand at termination of business arrangement.'
The clubhouse is a U-shaped building, the public rooms and kitchen occupying that portion extending easterly and westerly. The guest rooms are in two wings known as the west wing and the east wing, extending in a northerly direction. The guest rooms in both wings open into what are referred to in the evidence as corridors. The 'corridors' are in fact balconies open on the side opposite the rooms. There is a handrail along the outside edge of each balcony. The balcony or corridor serving the rooms on the west wing is level for its entire distance, while that on the east has at about the middle of the wing two steps down as one proceeds northerly. The floor of the corridor or balcony and the steps are painted a maroon or dark red color, there being no stripes on the steps or other indication of the change of level.
Plaintiffs were permitted the use of one room in the building. After occupying a room in the west wing for a few days they moved to one in the east wing. The accident took place about two days after the plaintiffs had moved. The room occupied by them is immediately at the head of the stairway leading from the main building up to the balcony. Prior to the accident Mrs. Wukaloff had never walked along the balcony farther than the door to the room occupied by her and her husband and had no knowledge of the existence of the steps. The club through its manager had charge of the lighting of the corridors. The switch for the lights was located in a private card room on the door to which was a sign reading 'Private.' The door was kept locked practically all the time, the key being in the possession of the manager. Plaintiffs were never provided with a key and in the manager's absence were unable to reach the switch in order to turn on the lights in the corridors. On the evening in question the manager departed from the clubhouse without turning on the lights. At about 8:00 o'clock in the evening the telephone bell rang in the clubroom on the lower floor adjoining the kitchen where Mrs. Wukaloff was working. Answering the call she was advised that the manager of the club was wanted. Not knowing he was absent she went up the steps leading to the south end of the east balcony and inquired of Mr. Novikoff, the head waiter, whose room adjoined that of plaintiffs, where the manager's room was located. He told her the manager occupied the room at the extreme north end of the corridor. She proceeded in the darkness in that direction and upon reaching the steps fell to the lower level of the corridor and received serious injuries causing her to be confined in a hospital under medical care for several months. Her special damages were about $6,000.
In addition to the verdict for damages the jury answered two special interrogatories propounded by the court: (1) whether or not the relationship between plaintiffs and defendant was that of invitor and invitee, to which the jury answered 'Yes'; (2) whether or not their relationship was that of landlord and tenant, to which the answer was 'No.'
Defendant contends that the relationship created by the agreement of the parties was that of landlord and tenant and therefore defendant is not liable for the damages sustained by Mrs. Wukaloff. In support of this theory defendant cites Beckett v. City of Paris Dry Goods Co., 14 Cal.2d 633, 96 P.2d 122, 124. The facts in that case are entirely different from those in the instant case. Dr. Beckett, an optometrist, occupied space in the defendant's department store where he conducted the optical department of the store. He installed his own equipment, fixtures and showcases. The contract was for a definite term and he was required to provide insurance indemnifying the defendant from liability arising through his negligence or that of his employees. The contract contained all the attributes of a lease. It provided that the plaintiff 'cannot assign this lease,' referred to 'space demised' and provided for 'monthly rental,' all of which, as the court stated, are the terminology of a lease. The plaintiff fixed his own prices for the merchandise he sold and for his professional services. He sold to the public in general and was not limited to the service of the persons selected by the defendant. In the instant case the memorandum prepared by defendant's representative provided that plaintiffs were to take charge of the food, beverage and lodgings at the club 'with no lease.' The club was operated for the benefit of its members and their guests. Plaintiffs had no election as to who should be permitted to occupy rooms or be served with meals. They were forbidden to rent rooms or to serve food to any person other than a member or his guest. The rent for the use of the guest rooms and the price of meals were fixed by defendant and the period of time during...
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Moreno v. Stahmann Farms, Inc., 80-2252
...a duty to provide their resident employees with a reasonably safe place in which to live. See, e.g., Wukaloff v. Malibou Lake Mountain Club, 96 Cal.App.2d 147, 214 P.2d 832, 835 (1950); Guiel v. Barnes, 100 Conn. 737, 125 A. 91, 93 (1924); United East & West Oil Co. v. Dyer, 144 S.W.2d 989,......
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Goss v. Fanoe
...laws and architectural practice demonstrate, as a matter of law, that defendants were not negligent. Wukaloff v. Malibou Lake Mountain Club, 96 Cal.App.2d 147, 151-152, 214 P.2d 832. Defendants direct attention to certain remarks made by the judge during the course of the trial and would in......
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Firemen's Ins. Co. of Newark, N.J. v. Indermill
...required depth into solid ground and were reasonably adequate for the support of the contemplated structure. Wukaloff v. Malibou Lake Mountain Club, 96 Cal.App.2d 147, 214 P.2d 832; Goss v. Fanoe, 114 Cal.App.2d 819, 251 P.2d 337. It is therefore clear that defendants could not excuplate th......
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United States v. Trubow, 13654.
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