Ian Treadway v. Green Mountain Power Corporation

Summary

The Vermont Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for Green Mountain Power in a negligence action arising from a child’s severe injuries while trespassing at an electrical substation. The Court declined to adopt the attractive-nuisance doctrine and reaffirmed Vermont’s longstanding rule that landowners generally owe no duty to trespassers, including children, absent willful or wanton misconduct. The Court concluded that any change to this rule should be made by the Legislature.

Holdings

1. Vermont does not adopt the attractive-nuisance doctrine stated in Restatement (Second) of Torts § 339 through judicial decision.
2. Under Vermont common law, a landowner generally owes no duty to a trespasser, whether an adult or child, to protect the trespasser from injury caused by unsafe or dangerous conditions on the premises, except for willful or wanton misconduct.
3. Summary judgment for Green Mountain Power was proper because, under the governing Vermont common-law rule, the defendant owed no duty to Treadway on the undisputed trespasser facts.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Vermont should adopt the attractive-nuisance doctrine in Restatement (Second) of Torts § 339 and impose a duty on landowners to child trespassers under specified circumstances.
2. Whether the existing Vermont common-law rule that landowners owe no duty to trespassers, absent willful or wanton misconduct, should be overruled or modified.
3. Whether summary judgment for Green Mountain Power was proper under the existing Vermont common-law rule.

Disposition

affirmed