Shelton v. Ky. Easter Seals Soc’y, Inc.

Plaintiff filed a personal injury action against a rehabilitation hospital where her husband was staying after Plaintiff became entangled in some wires strung along the side of her husband's bed and fell, fracturing her kneecap. The trial court granted summary judgment to the hospital, concluding that the hospital owed no duty of care to Plaintiff because the wires were an open and obvious condition. Before the court of appeals affirmed, the Supreme Court rendered its decision in Kentucky River Medical Center v. McIntosh, which modified Kentucky premises-liability law. The Supreme Court ultimately reversed the court of appeals on a second appeal, holding (1) the foreseeability and duty analysis employed by the court of appeals in reaching its decision was incompatible with modern tort law trends; and (2) the analysis is now such that a court no longer makes a no-duty determination but, rather, makes a no-breach determination, which places the reasonable-foreseeability analysis in the hands of the jury. Remanded. View "Shelton v. Ky. Easter Seals Soc'y, Inc." on Justia Law