Grammar v. Dollar9/13/2005
orable to Grammar, that she came to the Dollar's home to help put away wedding gifts, support Grammar's proposition that she was an invitee. The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that a visitor may be an invitee where he comes to the home of the occupant, not for business purposes, but for the occupant's benefit. Pinnell v. Bates, 838 So. 2d 198, 202 ( ) (Miss. 2002). In Pinnell, Pinnell paid a visit to the occupant's home where she helped unpack boxes and clean the house, and sustained serious injuries from falling as she left the home. The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed summary judgment having found that "Pinnell, once on the premises, performed services for Bate's benefit, and a jury question was created as to the issue of whether she was an invitee or a licensee." Id. at 202 ( ). However, the facts in the case sub judice reveal thatGrammar gave conflicting testimony in her deposition taken on December 18, 2002, and in a previously recorded interview concerning the reason why she was at the Dollar's home on the day of injury. In the original interview on March 29, 2002, Grammar claims to have been at the residence as a friend, and further claims that she had not worked for the Dollars in years. However, Grammar admits to have been at the residence to work on the day of injury in her deposition. Furthermore, when deposed in December 2002, Grammar admitted to the fact that Mrs. Dollar told her she had taken a bath in the bathroom in which Grammar slipped, prior to her fall, and thus Grammar should have been aware of the potential water in the bathroom in her exercise of reasonable care in the Dollars' home.
. We conclude, however, that Grammar's classification is inconsequential to the outcome of the case because regardless of whether Grammar was an independent contractor, employee, or invitee, she presented no evidence demonstrating that the Dollars breached any duty they might have owed to her. If Grammar was an independent contractor, there is no evidence demonstrating that the Dollars failed to provide her with a reasonably safe work environment or to warn her of any danger on the premises.
Additionally, the water on the floor was inherent to her work as an independent contractor, thus absolving the Dollars' duty to protect her from danger. Rogers, 368 So. 2d at 222; Coho Resources, 829 So. 2d at 10-11 ( -21). Likewise, if Grammar was an employee, there is no evidence to support the proposition that the Dollars breached their duty to furnish her with a safe place to work. Coho at 10-11 ( -21); Ness Creameries v. Barthes,170 Miss. 865, 868, 155 So. 222 (1934). Even if we accept Grammar's proposition that she is an invitee, despite conflicting testimony regarding the status, there is no evidence demonstrating that the Dollars failed to exercise ordinary care to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition, or that the Dollars failed to warn her of a dangerous condition, not readily apparent, of which the Dollars knew, or should have known. Anderson, 771 So. 2d at 918 ( ) (Miss. 2000); Jackson Ready-Mix Concrete, 235 So. 2d at 270. In the absence of such evidence, summary judgment was proper.
. THE JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF LOWNDES COUNTY IS AFFIRMED. ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE ASSESSED TO THE APPELLANT.
LEE, P.J., IRVING, MYERS, CHANDLER, GRIFFIS, BARNES AND ISHEE, JJ., CONCUR. KING, C.J., CONCURS IN RESULT ONLY.
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