## Facts

- Jeanne V. Miles, age 75, approached the entrance of a restaurant operated by VI-Doug, Inc.
- A sign on the exterior of the front door stated: “Please Hold Door Tight Due to Wind.”
- As Miles opened the door, wind caught it forcefully, causing her to fall on the concrete walkway and break her hip.
- Miles alleged the restaurant failed to provide a reasonably safe entryway for patrons.
- Miles also alleged the sign’s instruction and placement created or increased danger because holding the door tightly in high wind could cause a patron to be pulled or thrown by the door.
- Miles later died; the claim continued through the personal representative of her estate, Catherine A. Valance.
- The district court granted summary judgment for VI-Doug, holding (1) the open-and-obvious-danger rule applied to naturally occurring wind and (2) the sign did not breach any duty as a matter of law.

## Issues

1. Whether the open-and-obvious-danger exception to a proprietor’s duty to invitees applies to injuries caused by naturally occurring wind.
2. Whether genuine issues of material fact existed as to whether the door sign’s instruction constituted negligent conduct by creating or worsening a hazardous condition.

## Decision

- The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the application of the open-and-obvious-danger exception to naturally occurring wind.
- The Court reversed summary judgment on the sign-related negligence claim, holding a jury could find the sign’s instruction unreasonable and a cause of the injury.
- The case was affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings.

## Legal Principles

- A business proprietor owes invitees a duty of reasonable care to maintain premises in a reasonably safe condition.
- Under the open-and-obvious-danger exception, a proprietor generally has no duty to protect invitees from hazards that are known or obvious and that invitees can reasonably be expected to discover and avoid.
- Naturally occurring environmental conditions may fall within the open-and-obvious-danger exception; in Wyoming, naturally occurring wind is treated similarly to natural accumulations of snow and ice for this purpose.
- The open-and-obvious doctrine does not automatically bar liability for a proprietor’s affirmative conduct; warnings or instructions may be actionable if they create a new risk or aggravate an existing risk.
- Whether a particular warning or instruction is reasonable under the circumstances may present a fact question that cannot be resolved on summary judgment when evidence could support competing inferences.

## Conclusion

The court held that naturally occurring wind at a business entrance is an open and obvious condition limiting a proprietor’s duty, but it permitted the negligence claim to proceed because a reasonable jury could find that the restaurant’s door sign instructing patrons to “hold door tight” created or increased the risk of harm.


Valance v. VI-Doug, Inc., 50 P.3d 697 (Wyo. 2002)