JAMES SHANNON PHILLIPS, A MINOR, BY HIS FATHER AND NEXT FRIEND, JAMES VERNON PHILLIPS, AND JAMES VERNON PHILLIPS, INDIVIDUALLY, APPELLANTS,
v.
J. E. PHILLIPS AND CONTINENTAL CASUALTY COMPANY, APPELLEES
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A seven-year-old boy was burned after throwing a stick into a barbecue pit that his grandfather had fueled with gasoline. The trial court granted summary judgment for the grandfather based on the limited duty owed to social guests (licensees), but the appellate court reversed, applying a new Supreme Court standard that eliminated the distinction between invitees and licensees, requiring only reasonable care.
The court held that the trial court's summary judgment was improper because recent Florida Supreme Court precedent in Wood v. Camp abolished the distinction between invitees and licensees, extending the duty of reasonable care under the circumstances to all invited social guests on the premises, thereby creating a question of fact for the jury regarding whether the grandfather's conduct met that standard.
[1] The distinction between invitees and licensees has been abolished in Florida, and a single standard of reasonable care under the circumstances now applies to all visitors…
[2] An appellate court applies the law prevailing at the time of appellate disposition, not the law at the time of the trial court's judgment.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“It therefore appears that the appellant, an invited social guest upon the premises of his grandfather, comes within the new classification established in Wood and is entitled to be measured by the standard of reasonable care created thereby.”
Establishes that the appellant qualifies as an invitee under the new Wood standard, entitled to a reasonable care duty rather than the limited duty previously owed to licensees.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceJames Shannon Phillips, age seven, was playing in his grandfather's yard during a family barbecue. After the fire died down, the grandfather threw a C…
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SPECTOR, Judge.
Appellant seeks reversal of a summary judgment entered in favor of the defendant in an action for damages.
Appellant, James Shannon Phillips, was seven years old at the time of the accident and playing in the yard of his grandfather’s home during a family barbecue. After everyone had finished eating, the grandfather, appellee, collected the paper plates and trash and threw it into the barbecue pit. The barbecue pit was made from one-half of an oil drum covered by a grate. The trash did not ignite from the coal fire, so appellee threw a coca-cola can full of gasoline into the fire and it began to blaze. Some fifteen minutes later, after the fire had died down, appellant threw a stick into the barbecue pit and the fire ignited again, causing the appellant to suffer burns on his face and arms which required extensive medical treatment.
Appellant and his father sued appellee alleging that appellee had carelessly and negligently used gasoline in an open fire in the presence of the minor appellant. The trial court entered a summary judgment in favor of appellee, based on the cases of Britz v. LeBase, 258 So. 2d 811 (Fla.1971); Cochran v. Obercrombie, 118 So. 2d 636; and Gale v. Tuerk, 200 So. 2d 261.
Both Cochran, supra, and Gale, supra, reiterated the well established distinction between invitees, licensees and trespassers and both were based upon the fact that the plaintiff was a licensee. A licensee is generally defined as one who enters the property of another for his own convenience, pleasure or benefit and to whom the owner of the property owes only a duty to refrain from wanton negligence or wilful misconduct which would injure the licensee and to refrain from intentionally exposing him to danger. This is as opposed to the duty owed an invitee who enters the property-for purposes connected with the business of the owner and to whom the owner owes a duty to keep his property reasonably safe and protect the visitor from dangers of which he is or should be aware, Post v. Lunney, 261 So. 2d 146 (Fla.1972). The court in Gale, supra, states the well settled law to be that when a person is a social guest of another, the relationship created between the parties is that of licensor and licensee.
Although Britz v. LeBase, supra, was also based upon the absence of an attractive nuisance and the fact that the injury occurred off the premises of the defendant, the Supreme Court stated the generally accepted principle that before a licensor (host) can be held liable for injuries to a licensee (social guest), the host must have actual knowledge of the dangerous condition; he must realize that it involves an unreasonable risk to his guest; and he must have reason to believe that the guest will not discover the condition or realize the risk.
It therefore appears that the lower court in the case at hand found based upon the above three cases that appellant was a licensee to whom appellee owed no actionable duty. However, the Florida Supreme Court in the recent case of Wood v. Camp, 284 So. 2d 691, Opinion filed October 3, 1973, has abolished the distinction between commercial visitors and social guests upon the premises by expanding the class of invitees to include licensees by invitation and applying to both the single standard of reasonable care under the circumstances. It therefore appears that the appellant, an invited social guest upon the premises of his grandfather, comes within the new classification established in Wood and is entitled to be measured by the standard of reason-ble care created thereby.
It is also the generally accepted rule in Florida that an appellate court will apply the law prevailing at the time of appellate disposition and not according to the law existing at the time of rendition of the judgment appealed. Florida East Coast Railway Co. v. Rouse, 194 So. 2d 260 (Fla.1967); and Ingerson v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co., 272 So. 2d 862 (Fla.App.1973), cert. denied, case No. 43,558, opinion filed November 15, 1973.
We therefore reverse on the basis of Wood v. Camp, supra, and remand for further proceedings not inconsistent herewith. WIGGINTON, Acting C. J., concurs.
JOHNSON, J., specially concurs.
JOHNSON, Judge
(specially concurring).
I concur in the results reached by the majority opinion, but I do not agree with the enunciation of law laid down therein.
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Authorities Cited
- Wood v. Camp, 284 So. 2d 691 (Fla. 1973)
- Fla. E. Coast Ry. Co. v. Rouse, 194 So. 2d 260 (Fla. 1966)
- Post v. Lunney, 261 So. 2d 146 (Fla. 1972)
- Ingerson v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 272 So. 2d 862 (Fla. 3d DCA 1973)
- Cochran v. Abercrombie, 118 So. 2d 636 (Fla. 2d DCA 1960)
- Gale v. Tuerk, 200 So. 2d 261 (Fla. 4th DCA 1967)
- Britz v. LeBASE, 258 So. 2d 811 (Fla. 1971)