Edwards v. California Sports, Inc.

California Court of Appeal Dec 28, 1988 No. B028127Published

Before: Compton

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Holding. The court held that a property owner is not liable for injuries resulting from a plaintiff's own reckless conduct when the premises are maintained in a reasonably safe condition and the defendant has breached no duty of care. The court concluded that the defendant's fence was adequate for its intended purpose and that there was no evidence of negligent design or construction.

Issues

Whether a property owner breached a duty of care in the design or construction of a fence that a plaintiff climbed while intoxicated.
Whether the doctrine of comparative negligence allows for the apportionment of fault absent an initial showing of defendant's negligence.

Disposition. reversed and remanded

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“No suggestion of negligence arises from the mere happening of an accident.”

“The fundamental inquiry is whether the duty of a landowner to exercise reasonable care in preventing injury to persons on the premises (Civ. Code, § 1714) required such measures.”

“The question then is a narrow one, i.e., did defendant’s duty of due care require it to design and construct its building in a manner that would thwart plaintiff’s derring-do? We think not.”

Opinion

COMPTON, Acting P. J.

In a personal injury action predicated on premises liability, defendant appeals from a judgment entered on a jury’s verdict which apportioned 27 percent of the fault to defendant and 73 percent to plaintiff. In monetary terms the damages were assessed at $2 million with defendant obligated to pay $540,000. We reverse and remand the matter to the trial court with directions to enter judgment in favor of defendant.

Defendant, California Sports Inc., operates the sports arena known as The Forum located in Inglewood, California. It is a multi-storied structure where varied forms of entertainment and athletic contests are presented including the home games of the professional basketball team known as the Los Angeles Lakers.

At the southern portion of the arena an exterior driveway from the parking lot leads down to a subterranean tunnel which is used by the facility as an entrance for heavy equipment. As the ramp descends into the tunnel, it is flanked on its west and east sides by retaining walls. Atop the walls are metal railings to prevent pedestrians in the parking lot from falling onto the driveway below. The railings consist of vertical and horizontal bars anchored to the walls by a concrete base. On the west side the concrete base rises from the top of the retaining wall to a height of approximately

13 V2

inches. The railings attach to the concrete base, then extend upward to a height of an additional 36 inches. It is and has been the custom of some particularly enthusiastic fans to gather at the railings after a game in order to view players as they leave the building. During its over 12 years of existence, nothing untoward has ever occurred at this particular location.

On the date in question, according to disinterested percipient witnesses, plaintiff, while in an intoxicated condition, climbed up on the west guard fence, using the horizontal bars like the rungs of a ladder and fell onto the pavement below suffering severe head injuries.

There was absolutely no evidence that plaintiff was pushed, shoved, jostled or thrown over the fence. Claiming to have no memory of the events, plaintiff offered no testimony of his own.

[1287]

Edwards v. California Sports, Inc.

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