ROBERT A CORSINI V ROBERT CORSINI
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
ROBERT A. CORSINI,
UNPUBLISHED
December 30, 1997
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v
No. 197287
Oakland Circuit Court
LC No. 95-506378 NO
ROBERT CORSINI and JUDITH CORSINI,
Defendants-Appellees.
Before: McDonald, P.J., and Wahls and J. R. Weber*, JJ.
MEMORANDUM.
Plaintiff appeals as of right from the summary dismissal of his premises liability action pursuant to
MCR 2.116(C)(10). We affirm. This case is being decided without oral argument pursuant to MCR
7.214(E).
Plaintiff concedes that his status while on his parents’ premises was that of a licensee. See e.g.,
Bradford v Feeback, 149 Mich App 67, 70; 385 NW2d 729 (1986). In Preston v Sleziak, 383
Mich 442, 453; 175 NW2d 759 (1970), our Supreme Court adopted 2 Restatement Torts, 2d, § 342,
p 210, as correctly stating the duty that a landowner owes to an adult licensee:
“A possessor of land is subject to liability for physical harm caused to licensees by a
condition on the land if, but only if,
“(a) the possessor knows or has reason to know of the condition and should realize that
it involves an unreasonable risk of harm to such licensees, and should expect that they
will not discover or realize the danger, and
“(b) he fails to exercise reasonable care to make the condition safe, or to warn the
licensees of the condition and the risk involved, and
* Circuit judge, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment.
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“(c) the licensees do not know or have reason to know of the condition and the risk
involved.”
2 Restatement Torts, 2d, § 342, comment f, p 212, provides in pertinent part:
A licensee, in whose visit the possessor has no interest, is not entitled to expect that
special preparations will be made for his safety or that the possessor will warn him of
conditions which are perceptible by his senses, or the existence of which can be inferred
from facts within the licensee’s knowledge. The possessor is entitled to expect that the
licensee, realizing all this, will be on the alert to discover conditions which involve risk to
him. Indeed, it is not necessary that the condition be such as the licensee would
discover by the use of his senses while upon the land. It is enough that from facts within
his present or past knowledge he has reason to believe that a dangerous condition exists
at that time.
In the instant case, plaintiff’s deposition testimony established as a matter of law that he knew or
had reason to know of the defective condition on the premises and the risk it posed. Accordingly,
defendants owed no duty to plaintiff upon which liability may be attached.
We decline plaintiff’s invitation to abolish the common law duty classification scheme of
trespassers, licensees and invitees and to replace this scheme with an application of the ordinary
negligence principles of foreseeable risk and reasonable care. This classification scheme is a product of
Michigan common law established by the decisions of the Michigan Supreme Court. See e.g.,
Bertrand v Alan Ford, Inc, 449 Mich 606; 537 NW2d 185 (1995); Dube v Northwestern
Cooperage & Lumber Co, 209 Mich 661; 177 NW 148 (1920); Peklenk v Royale Copper Co, 170
Mich 299; 136 NW 352 (1912). It is the Supreme Court’s obligation to overrule or modify case law if
it becomes obsolete. Boyd v W G Wade Shows, 443 Mich 515, 523; 505 NW2d 544 (1993). Until
the Supreme Court takes such action, we are bound by that authority. Id.
Affirmed.
/s/ Gary R. McDonald
/s/ Myron H. Wahls
/s/ John R. Weber
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