MONTPELIER, Vt. (Legal Newsline) - A landlord can't be held liable for not building a fence around a pond in which a man whose condition kept him from recognizing dangers drowned.
The Vermont Supreme Court recently ruled for 3378 VT Route 12 LLC in a wrongful death lawsuit brought against several parties, including Scott Fleurrey's caretakers and the Department of Aging and Independent Living.
Fleurry died in a pond 100 feet from the home in which he lived with a caretaker in April 2019 at 54 years old. His disabilities diminished his capacity to recognize dangers, the decision says.
The ensuing lawsuit says the landlord's failure to fence the pond negligently created an unreasonably dangerous condition, but the trial court rejected that claim. The Supreme Court agreed, finding no legal relationship between the landlord and Fleurry because the landlord was leasing the property to the caretaker or her agency, meaning the lessee was the "possessor."
"Where a tenant’s invitee suffers injuries on property within the tenant’s control, the injured invitee stands in a legal relationship only to the tenant," the decision says.
"Because legal relationships serve as the foundation for legal duties, no such duties can run in the absence of such relationships."