New Torts Case

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Landowner Tort Duty

California landowners often owe a duty of care to people on their property. Last month, the Second District Court of Appeal published a decision addressing the issue of whether a landowner owes a duty of care for an open and obvious risk. Whether a risk is open and obvious will often be a question of fact that will preclude the granting of a motion for summary judgment. In this case, however, the parties agreed the risk was open and obvious. A video discussing the case is above and my summary of the case is below.

New Torts Decision  

Montes v. Young Men's Christian Assn. of Glendale (2022) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2022 WL 3053305: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's order granting defendant's motion for summary judgment in plaintiffs' wrongful action for the death of their son. Decedent Abel Montes, Jr., fell to his death from the steep, sloped roof of a residential building where he lived, owned by defendant. Mr. Montes had been drinking and had eaten a marijuana brownie earlier, was feeling high, and had been acting erratically before the fall. The parties agreed there was an "open and obvious risk" from the roof sloped at a steep angle and covered with brittle, broken, slippery and unstable Spanish tiles. They also agreed there was no need for Mr. Montes to be on the roof. The Court of Appeal concluded that, under these circumstances, defendant owed no duty of care to Mr. Montes and the trial court properly granted the motion for summary judgment. (C.A. 2nd, August 3, 2022.)

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Monty A. McIntyre, Esq.
California Case Summaries™
Mediator, Arbitrator & Referee
Master Lawyer Mentoring™
CA Civil Trial Attorney Since 1980
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