John O. Smith and Rufus Smith v. Mark J. Baxter

Summary

The Indiana Supreme Court affirmed a trial court judgment after a jury found John and Rufus Smith partially at fault for Mark Baxter’s injuries from falling off a grain-bin ladder. The court held that an invitee’s knowledge of a known or obvious danger may be considered in determining whether a land possessor breached the duty of reasonable care, even though incurred risk is no longer a complete defense under Indiana’s Comparative Fault Act. Viewing the evidence and reasonable inferences in Baxter’s favor, the court concluded that substantial evidence supported the jury’s determination and that judgment on the evidence was properly denied.

Holdings

1. The comparative knowledge of a land possessor and an invitee regarding known or obvious dangers may be considered in determining whether the possessor breached the duty of reasonable care under Restatement (Second) of Torts §§ 343 and 343A.
2. The defendants were not entitled to judgment on the evidence because substantial evidence and reasonable inferences supported the essential elements of the plaintiff's premises-negligence claim, including breach, and the evidence permitted reasonable people to differ.
3. No. Sections 343 and 343A do not require that an invitee's conduct in the face of a known or obvious risk be undertaken for a strong, external compelling circumstance.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court erred in denying the defendants' motion for judgment on the evidence because the evidence was insufficient to establish that the land possessors breached their duty of reasonable care.
2. Whether, under Indiana's Comparative Fault Act, an invitee's knowledge of a known or obvious danger may be considered both in determining breach of duty and in apportioning fault based on incurred risk.
3. Whether Indiana law requires an invitee's conduct, despite a known or obvious risk, to be undertaken in response to a strong, external compelling circumstance before the land possessor may be liable.

Disposition

affirmed