General Liability

The District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's entry of summary judgment, holding that the commercial landlord owed a duty of reasonable care to investigate a roof leak.

Plaintiff, Scott Hale, managed a Domino's Pizza operating on premises leased from Sleiman Enterprises, Inc., slipped and fell on water that had leaked from the roof into the kitchen. Because the lease permitted only Sleiman to access the roof, Domino's could not investigate the source and instead reported the leak to Sleiman. The trial court granted summary judgment for Sleiman, reasoning that the lease required Domino's to maintain the allegedly defective hood vent and that Sleiman therefore owed no duty.

The appellate court reversed, holding that Sleiman owed a duty of reasonable care because its exclusive control over roof access foreseeably created a zone of risk and prevented Domino's from discovering or repairing the source of the leak. The court held that the lease provision assigning hood vent maintenance to Domino's did not relieve Sleiman of that duty, and it rejected the argument that the danger was open and obvious, noting that an obvious danger discharges only the duty to warn, not the duty to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition. The ruling reinforces that a landlord's retained exclusive control over an area can support a duty notwithstanding a tenant's contractual maintenance obligations.