HEINS V. WEBSTER COUNTY case brief

 HEINS V. WEBSTER COUNTY

• court throws away the categories

• Heins going to visit his daughter on her lunch break at the hospital

• P tries to wiggle into invitee category by saying he went to the hospital to discuss playing Santa

• But P is labeled a licensee according to the traditional doctrine because on this visit he was purely a social guest

• Court sees that the distinction is completely unfair in such fact-based analyses – goes against modern social mores

• The categories are relics of feudalism and we don’t need them in an urban industrial society

• Court holds hat owners and occupiers only have the duty to exercise reasonable care in the maintenance of their premises for lawful visitors

foreeability test p. 201

1. the foreseeability of possibility of harm
2. the purpose for which the entrant entered the premises
3. the time, manner, and circumstances under which the entrant entered the premises
4. the use to which the premises are put or expected to be put
5. the reasonableness of the inspection, repair, or warning
6. the opportunity and ease of repair or correction or giving of the warning
7. the burden on the land occupier and/or community in terms of inconvenience or cost in providing adequate protection