Duty to Invitees

An invitee is any person that a property owner invites onto his or her property for the purpose of doing business. This invitation may be either explicit or implicit. A contractor inviting a client to his office would be an example of an explicit invitation, whereas a customer at a restaurant would be an implicit invitation, as the store “invites” customers to come onto the property by remaining open and accepting visitors.

A property owner has the highest level of duty to his invitees; it is his or her responsibility to ensure that they are free from harm. The property owner may be held liable if an invitee is injured on his property and the following conditions are met:

• The risk of injury is unreasonable. That is, if a reasonable person would eliminate the risk, then it is considered unreasonable. A large quantity of spilled liquid remaining on a tiled floor for hours at a time could be considered an unreasonable risk, and a property owner could be held liable for any injury that occurs as a result. However, a building struck by a tornado would not be considered an unreasonable risk; no reasonable property owner could ever fully ensure that his premises are protected from a direct tornado strike.
• The property owner knows (or should know) of the risk. If in the usual course of reasonable and ordinary care, the property owner discovers a risk and fails to act upon it, this criterion is fulfilled. Additionally, if the property owner did not discover the risk but a reasonable person should have, this criterion is fulfilled as well.

Contact Us

If you have been injured while on someone else’s property, contact the Philadelphia personal injury lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., at 215-238-1130.