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Torts • Negligence
TORT#040
Legal Definition
An invitee is one who enters onto land in response to an invitation from the landowner for a purpose stemming from the landowner's business, or as a result of the land being held open to the public. Landowners owe invitees a duty to make reasonable inspections and warn of—AND make safe—dangerous, concealed artificial and natural conditions that create an unreasonable risk of harm.
Plain English Explanation
An invitee is a social or business guest of the landowner. When you order a pizza for delivery, the guy who brings the pizza up to your door is an invitee. When your mother-in-law is visiting, she is an invitee (even if you wish she weren't). When your toilet backs up and you need a plumber, or when you throw a birthday party for a friend, anyone who enters your land in response to some sort of invitation is an invitee.
Invitations can even be more general and implicit. A business, for example, may not tell you "Please, come in and buy our stuff!" However, just by being open, it is implied that customers may enter to purchase things.
In a way, invitees are responding to some sort of lure by the property owner. Whether that lure is because the owner is lonely and wants to socialize, or because they want your money, the benefit to the landowner means that the law requires that the landowner be reasonably proactive about their safety. Not only are landowners required to warn of anything that may be dangerous, but they must try to make things safe, do repairs as necessary, and perform inspections to look for things to fix.
Invitations can even be more general and implicit. A business, for example, may not tell you "Please, come in and buy our stuff!" However, just by being open, it is implied that customers may enter to purchase things.
In a way, invitees are responding to some sort of lure by the property owner. Whether that lure is because the owner is lonely and wants to socialize, or because they want your money, the benefit to the landowner means that the law requires that the landowner be reasonably proactive about their safety. Not only are landowners required to warn of anything that may be dangerous, but they must try to make things safe, do repairs as necessary, and perform inspections to look for things to fix.
Hypothetical
Hypo 1: Sam gets lunch at In-n-Out most days with his work friends. However, today he brought his own lunch. Wanting to be social, he still goes with his friends to In-n-Out and, while they wait to order inside, he picks a table outside and sits down. Immediately upon sitting down, the table breaks in half and crushes Sam's legs. As it turns out, the table was badly weathered and had rotted. Result: Sam isn't a customer of In-n-Out, but the tables are located in an area that is held open to the public. As such, Sam is an invitee and is owed a duty of care. In-n-Out failed to inspect its tables, which would have caught the danger and, thus, are liable.
Related Concepts
In assessing negligence per se, when is breach excused?
In assessing negligence, what duty of care is owed by bailees?
In assessing negligence, what duty of care is owed by children?
In assessing negligence, what duty of care is owed by common carriers and innkeepers?
In assessing negligence, what duty of care is owed by landowners to discovered or anticipated trespassers?
In assessing negligence, what duty of care is owed by landowners to lessees?
In assessing negligence, what duty of care is owed by landowners to licensees?
In assessing negligence, what duty of care is owed by landowners to those off premises?
In assessing negligence, what duty of care is owed by landowners to undiscovered trespassers?
In assessing negligence, what duty of care is owed by professionals?
In assessing negligence, what duty of care is owed during emergencies?
In assessing negligence, what is actual causation and what three methods may be used to determine it?
In assessing negligence, what is a proximate cause?
In assessing negligence, what is negligence per se?
In assessing negligence, what is the but for test?
In assessing negligence, when does breach occur?
In assessing negligence, when do you determine whether a cause was a substantial factor in causing the injury?
In assessing negligence, when do you determine whether there are alternative causes to the injury, and what is the result?
In assessing negligence, when is a duty of care owed?
In assessing negligence, when is there a duty to act?
In assessing negligence, who owes a duty and what is the general standard of care owed?
In assessing proximate causation, what is the relationship between foreseeability, direct causation, and indirect causation?
What damages are available for negligence actions?
What is an attractive nuisance, and how is a claim established?
What is negligence?
When is a lessor liable for dangerous defects on their property?
