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Crichfield v. Grand Wailea Company7/31/2000
MOON, C.J., LEVINSON, NAKAYAMA, RAMIL, JJ., AND CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE NAKAMURA, ASSIGNED BY REASON OF VACANCY
The plaintiffs-appellants Cheryl Crichfield ("Cheryl") and Gary Crichfield ("Gary") [collectively, "the Crichfields"] appeal from the second circuit court's order, filed on September 13, 1999, granting summary and final judgment against them and in favor of the defendant-appellee Grand Wailea Company ("Grand Wailea"). On appeal, the Crichfields contend that the circuit court erroneously granted summary judgment against them and in favor of Grand Wailea, inasmuch as there was a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether the Crichfields were present on land owned by Grand Wailea for a "recreational purpose," within the meaning of the Hawaii Recreational Use Statute (HRUS), Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) chapter 520 (1993 & Supp. 1997), see infra section III.A.
We vacate the circuit court's order and remand the matter to the circuit court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
I. BACKGROUND
During the first week of September 1997, the Crichfields were registered guests of the Four Seasons Hotel on the island of Maui. On their last scheduled day in Hawaii, the Crichfields were walking around the grounds of the Grand Wailea Resort, Hotel, and Spa ("the hotel"), which is located adjacent to the Four Seasons Hotel. The Crichfields left the walking path in order to get a better look at the fishpond and statuary on the hotel's grounds. While on the grass near the fishpond, Cheryl decided to remove her slippers. Lifting her left leg, she pushed her left slipper off her foot using her knee. When she placed her left foot back on the ground, she slipped and fell. In an effort to break her fall, she thrust out her right hand. Cheryl broke her arm, resulting in severe complications. The accident occurred on September 6, 1997.
On January 29, 1998, the Crichfields were interviewed by John Reitzel, a representative of Ward North America. He introduced himself to the Crichfields as an independent insurance administrator working on behalf of Grand Wailea. During her recorded interview with Reitzel, Cheryl described why she and her husband had taken a walk on the grounds of the hotel:
We had taken a scuba diving lesson and finished and decided to walk next door to see the grounds of the Grand Wailea statuary and the pond and had walked on the sidewalk that was adjoining the Four Seasons and walked up that way.
According to Cheryl, the accident took place " ight on the edge of the pond, on the beach[;] there's a very large exotic fish pond with statuary and it was right, right there." She described the accident as follows:
We left the sidewalk, walked over toward the edge of the pond, um, I stopped to look at, to say something to my husband, I was kind of facing him. Went to take off my shoes, my sandals, because I wanted to walk on the grass. Took one sandal off, put my foot down and as I put my foot down, it felt, it was slick as glass. I started to fall. I've had four hips replaced, I've had my hips replaced four times due to advanced osteoporosis and I did not want to break a hip and I put my arm down to, break my fall. And in doing that, I broke my arm.
At the time of the accident, around 1:00 p.m., it was a "beautiful clear, clear as a bell, beautiful day."
In his recorded interview with Reitzel, Gary described the accident as follows:
GARY: Okay, um between the Four Seasons and the Grand Wailea, um, we were staying at the Four Seasons and there's a sidewalk that connects all of the hotels along the beachfront[,] and we walked along that sidewalk towa
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