Swearingen v. Momentive Specialty Chem., Inc.

Justia.com Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a driver, fell off a truck when he hit his head on low overhead pipes while attempting to unload chemicals at a facility owed by defendant. No employee of defendant instructed him or assisted. The court entered summary judgment for defendant, finding that the Illinois deliberate-encounter exception of the open-and-obvious doctrine in negligence did not apply. Under that exception, if an invitee harms himself on an open and obvious hazard, the landowner may still be liable if it had reason to expect that the invitee would deliberately encounter the hazard because the advantages of doing so outweigh the apparent risk to a reasonable person. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The burden of measures to prevent such a fall would be substantial; defendant had no reason to foresee that plaintiff would ignore his training in an attempt to loosen an unusually tight dome lid.

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