Representative Cases

Case Summary -- Griffiths v. Delmarva Aircraft, Inc.

Robert L. Ferguson, Jr. and Peter J. Basile represented an airport manager and its employee who were sued by a woman and her husband alleging that the woman sustained traumatic amputations of her fingers when she walked into a spinning propeller while on the airfield. Plaintiffs alleged that Defendants were negligent for allegedly under staffing the airport, asking the woman to answer the phones while the attendant was temporarily absent, leaving the airport unattended and failing to warn her of dangers associated with spinning propellers. Defendants sought summary judgment on the grounds that the uncontrolled airport need not be manned at all times, that Defendants were not required to find a qualified person to answer phones, that Defendants did not owe her a duty to warn her of dangers on the airfield because she was not authorized to be on the airfield, and that she was contributorily negligent and assumed the risk of her injuries. The Superior Court granted the Motion for Summary Judgment and held that Defendants did not owe Plaintiff a duty to warn her of dangers present on the property because she was not an invitee. The court found that she exceeded the scope of her invitation by leaving the safety and security of the airport office and walking out onto the tarmac and into the propeller. The court also found that even if Plaintiff were classified as a licensee and not a trespasser, Defendants would owe her no duty to warn her of the danger of a spinning propeller because this is an open and obvious condition.