## Facts

- Defendants owned a hilltop cottage with access down the hill via a 113-step stairway or a homemade lift (car on tracks raised/lowered by cables and an electric winch).
- Plaintiffs, adult social guests, used the lift after defendants repeatedly assured them it was safe.
- During descent, a shaft broke, the lift car crashed to the bottom, and plaintiffs were injured.
- Plaintiffs sued, alleging defendants were negligent in constructing, maintaining, and operating the lift.
- The trial court instructed the jury that plaintiffs were “gratuitous invitees” (licensees) and that the host’s duty was limited to avoiding active negligence, traps/pitfalls, warning of known hidden defects unlikely to be discovered by the guest, and avoiding gross negligence or willful/wanton misconduct.
- The jury returned a verdict of no cause of action for defendants.
- The intermediate appellate court reversed for a new trial, concluding the jury instructions misstated the duty owed.
- The state supreme court granted review to decide whether a host’s duty to an adult social guest matches the duty owed to a business invitee.

## Issues

1. Whether an adult social guest is owed the same duty of care as a business invitee under Michigan premises-liability law.
2. Whether the trial court properly instructed the jury on the limited duty owed by a host to an adult social guest.

## Decision

- The court held that the duty owed by a host to an adult social guest is not the same as that owed to a business invitee.
- The court reaffirmed that adult social guests are licensees (often described as “gratuitous invitees”).
- The court approved the trial court’s licensee-based instruction describing the host’s limited obligations.
- The court reversed the intermediate appellate court and reinstated the defense verdict (no cause of action).

## Legal Principles

- Michigan applies the traditional status categories (trespasser, licensee, invitee); adult social guests fall within the licensee category.
- A host generally owes an adult social guest no duty to inspect for, discover, or repair unknown dangers to make the premises reasonably safe in the manner required for business invitees.
- A host’s duty to an adult social guest includes:
  - refraining from active or affirmative negligence toward a guest whose presence is known;
  - not setting traps or pitfalls;
  - warning of, or removing, dangerous defects known to the host that are likely to cause harm and that the host has reason to believe the guest will not discover; and
  - refraining from gross negligence, recklessness, or willful and wanton misconduct.

## Conclusion

The court declined to extend business-invitee protections to adult social guests, holding that such guests are licensees and are entitled only to warnings about known, nonobvious dangers and protection against active negligence, traps, and willful or wanton misconduct; the defense verdict was reinstated.


Preston v. Sleziak, 175 N.W.2d 759 (Mich. 1970)