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Whelan v. Van Natta | 382 S.W.2d 205 (1964)

Attention shoppers. Treachery in aisle seven. In Kentucky, the duty a property owner owes to a person entering the property depends on the entrant’s status. A grocery store shopper is an invitee, so the grocer owes the shopper a duty to discover any dangerous conditions before the shopper does. In Whelan versus Van Natta, we explore whether a shopper can lose invitee status while still inside the shop.

Clarence Van Natta owned a grocery store located in an old house. To accommodate the grocery store, the house’s interior walls were removed, except for a wall and doorway separating the store from a storage room. Thomas Whelan entered the grocery to buy some cigarettes. After purchasing them, Whelan asked Van Natta if he could grab an empty box for his son. Van Natta, too busy to find a box, directed Whelan to retrieve one from the storage room himself. Whelan walked to the storage room and opened the door. The room was dark. Instead of trying to turn on the lights, Whelan paused to allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Whelan then stepped inside about four or five paces and fell into an unseen stairwell, sustaining injuries.

Whelan sued Van Natta for negligence. During the trial, Van Natta testified that even though he didn’t warn Whelan of the hidden stairwell, Whelan had been in the storage room several times before. Van Natta also testified that he’d turned the lights on in the storage room that day, though he couldn’t confirm if the lights were on when Whelan fell. Whelan argued that he was an invitee when he was injured because he’d originally entered the store on business. According to Whelan, Van Natta had a duty to provide a reasonably safe space and discover any dangerous conditions. The trial court disagreed, and Whelan appealed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

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