Harris v. Trinity Lodge

SCHOTTKY, J.

This is an appeal from a judgment in favor of defendants in a personal injury action tried by the court sitting without a jury.

The facts are not in substantial dispute and may be summarized as follows: Plaintiff, Sadie L. Harris, was injured when she fell leaving the Trinity Lodge. The accident occurred on January 1, 1960. It had snowed the previous evening. There was a flight of steps from the ground level to the porch of the lodge and two steps from the porch to the

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entrance of the lodge. There was some snow on the porch and snow and ice on the steps. Plaintiff and her husband entered the lodge about 12:30 p. m. They each had a drink of whiskey at the bar and divided a bottle of beer. After about half an hour they left the lodge by the same entrance and went to the parking lot where their pickup was parked. A Mr. Lacy, a friend of theirs, came along and they invited him to have a New Year’s drink with them. The three then entered the lodge by the same entrance. The men stamped on the floor to remove the debris from their shoes. A steel mat was available but it was covered with snow and ice and could not be used. The group had no difficulty entering the lodge. After Mr. Harris and the friend drank a beer the Harrises left. Mrs. Harris left first, and as she went out the door she stumbled and fell. She testified that when her husband opened the door she put her hand on the side of the door sill, put her right foot out, and pitched forward. She said she felt an object under her foot but she did not know what it was. She did not look at the floor at her feet as she went out the door. She was aware that there was mud at the entrance.

The owner of the lodge testified that in his experience the porch had never iced up; that the roof overhangs the porch; and that the cross boards are laminated so the “snow” drips down between. He also testified the employees were instructed to keep the floor of the bar free from moisture, as well as the outside.

The trial court made the following findings: 11 That the defendants, and each of them, did not negligently and carelessly maintain and control their place of business, but rather did maintain their place of business in the exercising of reasonable care in keeping the premises safe for their business invitees and that said defendants, and each of them, regularly inspected and cleaned their business premises to make them reasonably safe for their business invitees and that any dangerous condition, if any existed, did not exist long enough for the defendants in exercising reasonable care to discover and rectify.