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Keywords

contractnegligencecorporation

negligenceliabilitytrialcorporationsustained

Related Cases

General Motors Corp. v. Hill, 752 So.2d 1186

Facts

On June 11, 1996, Van Allen Hill, an employee of an independent contractor, was driving a motorized buggy at a GM facility when he struck a parked flatbed trailer, resulting in his death. Hill was responsible for servicing vending machines at the facility and had been familiar with the premises for years. The accident occurred in a dark area where the trailer had been parked for 12 hours prior to the incident. Hill's widow, as administratrix of his estate, sued GM for negligence, claiming that the company failed to provide adequate lighting and warning of the dangers.

Mr. Hill was driving a buggy through a dark area when he struck a 25–foot, parked flatbed trailer. He died as a result of the injuries he sustained in the accident. His widow, as administratrix of his estate, sued GM, alleging that negligence or wantonness on the part of GM had proximately caused his accident and death.

Issue

Did General Motors Corporation owe a duty to warn Van Allen Hill of the dangerous conditions that led to his fatal accident?

Rule

A landowner has a duty to use reasonable care to keep the premises safe for invitees, but is not liable for injuries resulting from dangers that are known to the invitee or that the invitee should have observed through reasonable care. If the danger is open and obvious, the landowner cannot be held liable.

[A landowner is] under a duty to use reasonable care and diligence to keep the premises in a safe condition, or, if the premises [are] in a dangerous condition, to give sufficient warning so that, by use of ordinary care, [an invitee can] avoid the danger. It is well established, however, that an invitor is not liable for injuries to an invitee resulting from a danger that was known to the invitee or that the invitee should have observed through the exercise of reasonable care.

Analysis

The court determined that the danger posed by the parked trailer was open and obvious, regardless of the lighting conditions. It noted that Hill had traveled past the trailer at least twice before the accident, which indicated that he should have been aware of its presence. The court concluded that whether the area was dark or not, Hill should have known of the dangerous conditions, and thus GM had no duty to warn him.

The trial court held that GM was not entitled to a judgment as a matter of law because, it held, the evidence created factual disputes as to the extent of the lighting of the area around the flatbed trailer involved in the collision. However, such disputes are irrelevant, because the danger that led to the accident was open and obvious, regardless of the lighting conditions.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court of Alabama reversed the judgment of the Limestone Circuit Court and remanded the case, holding that GM did not owe a duty to warn Hill of the dangers present.

The judgment is reversed and the case is remanded.

Who won?

General Motors Corporation prevailed in the case because the court found that Hill should have been aware of the dangers, and thus GM had no duty to warn him.

GM's liability is predicated solely on its status as a landowner and Mr. Hill's status as an invitee.

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