## Facts

- Minnie Hambright, a member of another church’s choir, attended an anniversary service at First Baptist Church–Eastwood on November 10, 1991, after the choir was invited to participate.
- The church provided a buffet in its fellowship hall for members and visitors attending the service.
- As Hambright approached the buffet table, she nearly slipped but regained her balance.
- After getting food, eating, and preparing to leave the fellowship hall, Hambright slipped and fell near the buffet area.
- The record suggested a potentially slippery condition or foreign substance on the floor.
- Hambright sued the church for negligence and wantonness based on premises liability; her husband asserted loss of consortium.

## Issues

1. Whether a person attending a church service and related fellowship activities is a licensee or an invitee on church premises.
2. If the attendee is a licensee, whether the plaintiffs produced substantial evidence that the church breached the limited duty owed to licensees.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Alabama affirmed summary judgment for the church on all claims.
- The court held that Hambright was a licensee as a matter of law while attending the service and related church function.
- The plaintiffs failed to present substantial evidence of willful or wanton conduct, or of negligent injury after the church discovered Hambright was in peril.

## Legal Principles

- Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law; after a prima facie showing by the movant, the nonmovant must present substantial evidence.
- An invitee enters premises for purposes connected with the owner’s business or material benefit; the landowner owes reasonable care to maintain safe premises and warn of hidden dangers.
- A licensee enters with permission for personal convenience, pleasure, or benefit; the landowner must refrain from willful or wanton injury and must not negligently injure the licensee after discovering the licensee’s peril.
- People attending church for religious worship are generally classified as licensees rather than invitees absent a showing of a business or pecuniary benefit to the church.

## Conclusion

Because Hambright attended the church event for worship-related purposes and did not confer a business benefit on the church, she was a licensee; lacking substantial evidence that the church violated the limited duties owed to licensees, the church was entitled to summary judgment.


Hambright v. First Baptist Church-Eastwood, 638 So. 2d 865 (Ala. 1994)