Absent Landowners Not Liable for Injuries at Party Hosted on their Property.

The Fourth Department reversed the trial court and granted a summary judgment motion brought by the owners of a golf course.  At a party that was not hosted by the landowners (and at which the landowners were not present), plaintiff was injured by another party-goer.  In determining the landowners had demonstrated they were not liable, the Fourth Department explained:

In general, “[landowners] are under a common-law duty to ‘control the conduct of third persons on their premises when they have the opportunity to control such persons and are reasonably aware of the need for such control’ ” …Thus, landowners who are not present when a guest engages in harmful conduct and who have neither notice of nor control over such conduct are under no duty to protect others from such conduct …, unless the nature of the relationship between the landowners and the party host is such that the landowners, even if absent, are deemed to share in the duty imposed upon the host …. Pettit v Green, et al, 80, CA 12-01293, Fourth Dept. 3-15-13

third party assault