Flavia Linnea Borgo v. The Narragansett Electric Company d/b/a National Grid et al.

Summary

The Rhode Island Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for The Narragansett Electric Company in a negligence action arising from an eighteen-year-old trespasser’s severe injuries at an electrical substation. The court held that, under Rhode Island premises-liability law, an adult trespasser is owed no duty unless actually discovered in a position of peril, and that alleged repeated trespassing did not establish constructive discovery. The court also concluded that the cited Public Utilities Commission regulations did not create a duty owed to the plaintiff and that an alternative duty argument was waived.

Holdings

1. Under Rhode Island law, a landowner owes an adult trespasser no duty of care unless the trespasser is actually discovered in a position of peril; constructive knowledge, repeated trespassing, or a beaten-path exception does not create such a duty. Because Borgo was not actually discovered, National Grid owed her no premises-liability duty.
2. The PUC regulations did not create a duty of care running from National Grid to Borgo because the regulations were not shown to be designed to protect adult trespassers or members of the general public injured inside an electrical facility.
3. The expert affidavit could not prevent summary judgment because evidence of breach is immaterial unless the plaintiff first establishes that the defendant owed a legal duty.

Questions Presented

1. Whether National Grid owed an adult trespasser a duty of care under Rhode Island premises-liability law absent actual discovery of the trespasser in a position of peril.
2. Whether Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission safety regulations created a duty of care running from National Grid to Borgo.
3. Whether National Grid's conduct as an electrical distributor independently created a duty under the factors identified in Banks v. Bowen's Landing Corp.
4. Whether the plaintiff's expert affidavit created a genuine issue concerning breach when no legal duty had been established.

Disposition

affirmed