Peterson v. Superior Court

Opinion

In Becker v. IRM Corp. (1985) 38 Cal.3d 454 [213 Cal.Rptr. 213, 698 P.2d 116] (hereafter Becker), this court concluded that under California’s products liability doctrine (which provides generally that manufacturers, retailers, and others in the marketing chain of a product are strictly liable in tort for personal injuries caused by a defective product), a residential landlord may be held strictly liable for an injury to its tenant caused by a defect in a leased dwelling. We granted review in the present case to decide whether Becker was wrongly decided and should be overruled, or, if Becker is not overruled, whether the principles underlying that decision apply outside the landlord-tenant context and warrant the imposition of strict products liability upon the proprietor of a hotel for an injury to its guest caused by a defect in the hotel premises.

Upon reexamining the basis for Becker’s holding with regard to the proper reach of the products liability doctrine, we conclude that we erred in Becker in applying the doctrine of strict products liability to a residential landlord that is not a part of the manufacturing or marketing enterprise of the allegedly defective product that caused the injury in question. For similar reasons, we also conclude that it would be improper to impose strict liability under products liability principles upon a hotel proprietor for injuries caused by an alleged defect in the hotel premises that the hotel proprietor did not create or market. Accordingly, we overrule that portion of our decision in Becker imposing strict products liability, and hold that neither landlords nor *1189 hotel proprietors are strictly liable on a products liability theory for injuries to their respective tenants and guests caused by a defect in the premises. This conclusion, however, by no means absolves hotel proprietors or landlords of all potential responsibility for such injuries; on the contrary, hotel proprietors and landlords that breach the applicable standard of care still may be held liable under general tort principles for injuries resulting from defects in their premises. Additionally, the injured tenant or guest retains any strict products liability cause of action that may lie against the manufacturer, distributor, or retailer of a defective product that causes the injury.

I

In an amended complaint filed March 19, 1990 (the last amended complaint), plaintiff Nadine L. Peterson alleged that, while a guest at the Palm Springs Marquis Hotel, she slipped and fell in the bathtub while taking a shower, sustaining serious head injuries. 1 Plaintiff alleged that the bottom surface of the bathtub was “extremely slick and slippery” and that the bathtub had no “safety measures” such as “anti-skid surfaces, grab rails, rubber mats, or the like.” Plaintiff named as defendants, among others, the owners of the hotel, Banque Paribas and Palm Springs Marquis, Inc.; the operator of the hotel, Harbaugh Hotel Management Corporation; and the manufacturer of the bathtub, the Kohler Company. In addition to a cause of action for negligence, plaintiff brought a cause of action for “strict liability in tort,” asserting the bathtub was a “defective product” because the bathtub “was so smooth, slippery, and slick as to have provided no friction or slip resistance whatsoever . . . .”

During discovery proceedings, the Kohler Company entered into a settlement with plaintiff for the sum of $600,000. The superior court found that this settlement was entered into in good faith.

Prior to trial, defendants Banque Paribas and Harbaugh Hotel Management Corporation (hereinafter defendants) filed a motion in limine to preclude plaintiff “from introducing any evidence or making any reference that strict liability applies to this case” on the ground that the “Becker v. IRM, (1985) 38 Cal.3d 454 [213 Cal.Rptr. 213, 698 P.2d 116], rationale does not apply to the present case . . . .” The parties did not submit evidence in support of—or in opposition to—this motion, and no evidentiary hearing was held. The trial court granted the motion, ruling as a matter of law that the decision in Becker did not apply to the owners and operators of a hotel. *1190 A jury trial commenced that day but, on August 17, 1992, a mistrial was declared when the trial court excluded the testimony of plaintiff’s expert witnesses for reasons unrelated to the issue before us.

Following a hearing, the trial court on October 3, 1992, issued an order that (among other things) confirmed that, upon retrial, the court would abide by its earlier ruling that “[s]trict liability as set forth in Becker v. IRM, 38 Cal.3d 454 [213 Cal.Rptr. 213, 698 P.2d 116], is not applicable to these proceedings.” Plaintiff filed a petition for writ of mandate and/or prohibition in the Court of Appeal challenging the trial court’s order, including the lower court’s ruling precluding plaintiff from pursuing her strict products liability claim. The Court of Appeal summarily denied the petition for extraordinary writ. Plaintiff filed a petition for review in this court, which we granted, and we transferred the case to the Court of Appeal with directions to vacate its earlier order and issue an alternative writ.

After further proceedings, the Court of Appeal issued an opinion holding that a peremptory writ of mandate should issue directing the trial court, among other things, to permit plaintiff to proceed on her strict liability theory, and concluding that Becker applied to hotel proprietors. Upon petition by defendants, we again granted review to decide whether Becker should be overruled and, alternatively, whether under that decision the proprietor of a hotel is strictly liable in tort for injuries to guests caused by defects in the premises. 2

II

The sole issue in the case before us is whether the trial court erred in granting defendants’ in limine motion to preclude plaintiff from arguing that, pursuant to our decision in Becker, the proprietor of a hotel is strictly liable under the doctrine of products liability for injuries to hotel guests caused by defects in the premises. For the reasons that follow, we conclude, upon reconsideration, that the decision in Becker constitutes an unwarranted extension of the doctrine of products liability and should be overruled. As we explain, the circumstance that landlords and hotel proprietors lease residential dwellings and rent hotel rooms to the public does not bring them within the class of persons who properly may be held strictly liable under the doctrine of products liability.

The plaintiff in Becker was injured when he fell against a shower door in the apartment he rented from the defendant. The door, which was made of *1191 untempered glass, broke and severely lacerated the plaintiff’s arm. The only visible difference between shower doors with tempered glass and those with untempered glass in the apartment complex in question was a “ ‘very small mark in the comer of each piece of glass.’ ” (Becker, supra, 38 Cal.3d at p. 458.) The apartment was part of a 36-unit complex built more than 10 years before it was acquired by the defendant.

Relying upon the rule announced in Greenman v. Yuba Power Products, Inc. (1963) 59 Cal.2d 57 [27 Cal.Rptr. 697, 377 P.2d 897, 13 A.L.R.3d 1049] and its progeny, which imposed strict liability for personal injury caused by a defective product placed into the stream of commerce, this court observed that “a lease for a dwelling contains an implied warranty of habitability” and concluded that, in renting a dwelling, a landlord makes an “implied assurance of safety.” (Becker, supra, 38 Cal.3d at pp. 462, 465.) Accordingly, this court held “that a landlord engaged in the business of leasing dwellings is strictly liable in tort for injuries resulting from a latent defect in the premises when the defect existed at the time the premises were let to the tenant. [Fn. omitted.]” (Id. at p. 464.)

The defendant in Becker argued that a landlord that purchases an existing building is not part of the manufacturing and marketing enterprise and, therefore, should not be held strictly liable in tort for injuries caused by defects in the premises. The defendant in that case argued that the reasons enumerated in Vandermark v. Ford Motor Co. (1964) 61 Cal.2d 256, 262-263 [37 Cal.Rptr. 896, 391 P.2d 168] for imposing strict liability upon the retailer of a defective product do not apply to landlords: “Strict liability on the manufacturer and retailer alike affords maximum protection to the injured plaintiff and works no injustice to defendants, for they can adjust the costs of such protection between them in the course of their continuing business relationship.” The defendant observed that a subsequent purchaser of a rental property never was in a business relationship with the builder and does not have a continuing business relationship with the builder that would permit adjustment of the cost of protecting tenants. The defendant also likened the landlord that purchases a building that is not new, to a seller of used machinery—such a seller not being strictly liable in tort. (Becker, supra, 38 Cal.3d 454, 465.)

We rejected these arguments in Becker, concluding that “a continuing business relationship is not essential to imposition of strict liability.” (Becker, supra, 38 Cal.3d at p. 466.) The court stated: “The paramount policy of the strict products liability rule remains the spreading throughout society of the cost of compensating otherwise defenseless victims of manufacturing defects. [Citations.]” (Ibid.) Strict liability was imposed, therefore, because *1192 the court concluded “[t]he cost of protecting tenants is an appropriate cost of the enterprise.” (Ibid.)

We further held in Becker that the superior court had erred in granting summary judgment for the defendant on the plaintiff’s cause of action for negligence. Rejecting the defendant’s contention that its lack of actual knowledge of the defect was dispositive, Becker held: “In the exercise of ordinary care, the purchaser of rental property may be expected to inspect the premises not only to determine whether they are aesthetically pleasing but also to determine whether they meet bare living standards, including whether they are safe. . . . Similarly, a landlord at time of letting may be expected to inspect an apartment to determine whether it is safe.” (Becker, supra, 38 Cal.3d at p. 468.) We added, however: “The duty to inspect should charge the defendant only with those matters which would have been disclosed by a reasonable inspection.” (Id. at p. 469.)

Then Associate Justice Lucas, joined by Justice Mosk, concurred in the majority’s conclusion as to the issue of negligence—that “a landlord may be held liable for dangerous conditions of which he knew or should have known”—but dissented from the majority’s holding with regard to strict liability. (Becker, supra, 38 Cal.3d at p. 479 (conc, and dis. opn. of Lucas, J.).) Terming the latter holding “an unprecedented leap,” Justices Lucas and Mosk observed that “[a]ny landlord, even one renting the family home for a year, will now be insurer for defects in any wire, screw, latch, cabinet door, pipe or other article on and in his premises at the time they are let despite the fact that he neither installed the item nor had any knowledge or reason to know of the defect.” (Id. at p. 479.) Justices Lucas and Mosk concluded they “would hold that a subsequent purchaser of property who has not installed, altered or created the item or condition which is claimed to be defective, and who has no actual or constructive knowledge of any defect therein, should not be held strictly liable. . . . [W]here the landlord has no continuing relationship with the chain of marketing leading back to the manufacturer of the defective product, and thus has no way of influencing the production or design of the product or of adjusting potential costs of the manufacturer’s enterprise or others in the business of marketing the item at issue, imposition of strict liability is inappropriate.” (Id. at p. 487, italics in original.)

The decision in Becker has received a chilly reception. The Court of Appeal in Vaerst v. Tanzman (1990) 222 Cal.App.3d 1535 [272 Cal.Rptr. 503] held that Becker did not apply if the tenant was injured by a patent defect in leased premises (an allegedly defectively designed handrail on a stairway) or if the landlord leased only his own family residence on a temporary basis. Concluding that “Becker must be limited to its facts” (id. at *1193 p. 1541), the Court of Appeal stated in a footnote: “We note that Becker represents a minority view to which Chief Justice Lucas and Justice Mosk vigorously dissented. The overwhelming weight of outside authority consistently holds that the imposition of strict liability upon the landlord for latent defects in premises is unjustified in the absence of a showing that the landlord had notice or knowledge of the defect because the landlord is not an insurer of the property. [Citations.]” (Id. at p. 1541, fn. 2.)

The only other state, of which we are aware, to discuss the holding in Becker imposing strict liability upon landlords, adopted the contrary rule. (Armstrong v. Cione (1987) 69 Hawaii 176 [738 P.2d 79, 84].) The Armstrong case involved circumstances nearly identical to those in Becker; a tenant was injured by the breaking of a shower door made with untempered glass. The Supreme Court of Hawaii, citing with approval the dissent in Becker, held that strict products liability did not apply to the landlord. 3

Many commentators have criticized the decision in Becker. (Comment, California’s Approach to Landlord Liability for Tenant Injuries: Strict Liability Reexamined (1993) 26 U.C. Davis L.Rev. 367, 423 [“The California Supreme Court should . . . overrule Becker . . . .”]; Note, A Bird in the Hand: California Imposes Strict Liability on Landlords in Becker v. IRM Corp. (1987) 20 Loyola L.A. L.Rev. 323, 372-373 [“Becker represents a vast and unwarranted extension in the area of strict liability . . . .”]; Walker, The Expanding Applicability of Strict Liability Principles: How is a ‘Product’ Defined? (1986) 22 Tort & Ins. L.J. 1, 11; Note, Let the Landlord Beware: California Imposes Strict Liability on Lessors of Rental Housing (1986) 51 Mo. L.Rev. 899; Note, Becker v. IRM Corporation: Strict Liability in Tort for Residential Landlords (1986) 16 Golden Gate L.Rev. 349; Note, Landlord-Tenant: Landlord’s Strict Liability for Personal Injury Arising from Latent Defects in Premises—Becker v. IRM Corp., 38 Cal.3d 454, 698 P.2d 116, 213 Cal.Rptr. 213 (1985) 1986 Ariz. St. L.J. 561, 582 [“The extension of strict liability to all landlords is inequitable.”]; contra, Nolan & Ursin, Strict Tort Liability of Landlords: Becker v. IRM Corp. in Context (1986) 23 San Diego L.Rev. 125, 129 [describing Becker as “a desirable application of strict liability, supported by the decisions of the past two decades.”]; Note, Becker v. IRM Corporation: The Final Chapter in the Destruction of Landlord Tort Immunity (1986) 17 Pacific L.J. 995, 1007 [neither criticizing nor endorsing Becker: “Whether the decision will have the effect of imposing ‘an unusual and unjust burden on property owners’ remains to be seen.”].)

The decision in Becker, judicially engrafting products liability principles onto the law governing landlord liability and holding landlords strictly liable *1194 for injuries caused by defects in leased premises, represents a minority view that does not appear to be gaining acceptance. 4 Louisiana long has imposed strict liability upon landlords pursuant to statute. (Marcantel v. Kararn (La. Ct.App. 1992) 601 So.2d 1, 2.) Nearly 20 years ago, 2 New York courts adopted a strict liability rule (Kaplan v. Coulston (1976) 85 Misc.2d 745 [381 N.Y.S.2d 634, 638], cited with approval in McBride v. 218 E. 70th St. Associates (1979) 102 Misc.2d 279 [425 N.Y.S.2d 910, 912]), but that state soon abandoned that approach in favor of a negligence standard. (Alharb v. Sayegh (1993)199 A.D.2d 229 [604 N.Y.S.2d 243, 244]; Carpenter v. Smith (1993) 191 A.D.2d 1036 [595 N.Y.S.2d 710]; Segal v. Justice Court Mutual Housing Cooperative, Inc. (1981) 108 Misc.2d 1074 [442 N.Y.S.2d 686], affg. Segal v. Justice Court Mut. Housing Co-op. (1980) 105 Misc.2d 453 [432 N.Y.S.2d 463, 466-467]; Curry v. New York City Housing Authority (1980) 77 A.D.2d 534 [430 N.Y.S.2d 305, 306-308] [dicta].)

New Jersey expressly has rejected the imposition of strict liability upon landlords. In Dwyer v. Skyline Apartments, Inc. (1973) 123 N.J.Super. 48 [301 A.2d 463], a tenant who had occupied an apartment in a multi-unit building for 15 years was burned when she turned on the hot water faucet in the bathtub in her apartment and the entire fixture came out of the wall, causing scalding water to gush from the pipe. The plaintiff described the faucet as “very corroded” but stated she had no idea of its condition prior to the accident, because the corrosion had been hidden inside the wall. The trial court found for the plaintiff, despite the absence of actual or constructive notice to the landlord of the defect, holding the landlord strictly liable based upon an implied warranty of habitability. The intermediate appellate court 5 reversed the judgment, stating: “Since his duty is not to insure the safety of tenants but only to exercise reasonable care, a landlord is liable only for injurious consequences to a tenant by reason of defects ‘of which he has knowledge or of defects which have existed for so long a time that... he had both an opportunity to discover and to remedy.’ [Citations.]” (301 A.2d at p. 465.) The court rejected the argument that the landlord could be held strictly liable on a products liability theory: “The underlying reasons for the enforcement of strict liability against the manufacturer, seller or lessor of *1195 products or the mass builder-vendor of homes do not apply to the ordinary landlord of a multiple family dwelling. [¶] Such a landlord is not engaged in mass production whereby he places his product—the apartment—in a stream of commerce exposing it to a large number of consumers. He has not created the product with a defect which is preventable by greater care at the time of manufacture or assembly. He does not have the expertise to know and correct the condition, so as to be saddled with responsibility for a defect regardless of negligence. . . .” (Id. at p. 467.)

In Young v. Morrisey (1985) 285 S.C. 236 [329 S.E.2d 426, 428], the Supreme Court of South Carolina adopted the holding in Dwyer, adding: “We decline to hold the landlord an insurer against personal injuries to tenants and guests arising out of latent defects in construction.”

Courts in several states have followed the decisions in Dwyer and Young in refusing to impose upon landlords strict liability for injuries caused by defects in leased premises. (Duncavage v. Allen (1986) 147 Ill.App.3d 88 [100 Ill.Dec 455, 497 N.E.2d 433, 442]; Richwind v. Brunson (1994) 335 Md. 661 [645 A.2d 1147, 1153, 1158]; Scott v. Missouri Inv. Trust (Mo.Ct.App. 1988) 753 S.W.2d 73, 74-75; Livingston v. Begay (1982) 98 N.M. 712 [652 P.2d 734, 737-739].) Many other states have rejected the imposition of strict liability upon landlords for similar reasons. (Singleton v. Collins (1978) 40 Colo.App. 340 [574 P.2d 882, 883]; Meyer v. Parkin (Minn.Ct.App. 1984) 350 N.W.2d 435, 438-439; Winston Properties v. Sanders (1989) 57 Ohio App.3d 28 [565 N.E.2d 1280, 1281-1282]; Bolin Development Corp. v. Indart (Tex.Ct.App. 1991) 803 S.W.2d 817, 819-820; Williams v. Melby (Utah 1985) 699 P.2d 723, 727; Lincoln v. Farnkoff (1980) 26 Wn.App. 717 [613 P.2d 1212, 1213].)

We do not lightly undertake a reexamination of the issue decided in Becker. “The doctrine of stare decisis expresses a fundamental policy . . . that a rule once declared in an appellate decision constitutes a precedent which should normally be followed . . . . It is based on the assumption that certainty, predictability and stability in the law are the major objectives of the legal system . . . .” (9 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (3d ed. 1985) Appeal, § 758, p. 726; Moradi-Shalal v. Fireman’s Fund Ins. Companies (1988) 46 Cal.3d 287, 296 [250 Cal.Rptr. 116, 758 P.2d 58].) But, as Justice Frankfurter wrote, it equally is true that “ ' “[s]tare decisis is a principle of policy and not a mechanical formula of adherence to the latest decision, however recent and questionable, when such adherence involves collision with a prior doctrine more embracing in its scope, intrinsically sounder, and verified by experience.” [Citations.]’ ” (Cianci v. Superior Court (1985) 40 Cal.3d 903, 923-924 [221 Cal.Rptr. 575, 710 P.2d 375], quoting Boys Markets v. Clerks *1196 Union (1970) 398 U.S. 235, 240-241 [26 L.Ed.2d 199, 204-205, 90 S.Ct. 1583].) As this court has stated: “Although the doctrine [of stare decisis] does indeed serve important values, it nevertheless should not shield court-created error from correction.” (Cianci v. Superior Court, supra, 40 Cal.3d at p. 924; County of Los Angeles v. Faus (1957) 48 Cal.2d 672, 679 [312 P.2d 680] [“Previous decisions should not be followed to the extent that error may be perpetuated and that wrong may result.”]. See also the concurring opinion of Justice Mosk in Smith v. Anderson (1967) 67 Cal.2d 635, 646 [63 Cal.Rptr. 391, 433 P.2d 183], quoting Wolf v. Colorado (1949) 338 U.S. 25, 47 [93 L.Ed. 1782, 1795, 69 S.Ct. 1359] [“ ‘Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late.’ ”].)

Our decision in Becker drastically altered established rules governing a landlord’s liability for injuries caused by defects in leased premises. “At common law, the landlord was under no general duty to keep the premises in safe condition after transfer of possession . . . , and was ordinarily not liable for injuries to a tenant or his invitees, or to strangers, resulting from the defective condition of the premises, even though by the exercise of reasonable diligence he might have discovered the defects. [Citations.]” (4 Witkin, Summary of Cal. Law (9th ed. 1987) Real Property, § 595, pp. 773-774.)

In Rowland v. Christian (1968) 69 Cal.2d 108 [70 Cal.Rptr. 97, 443 P.2d 561, 32 A.L.R.3d 496], we recognized a trend in the law “ ‘towards “imposing on owners and occupiers a single duty of reasonable care in all the circumstances.” ’ (Fns. omitted.) [Citations.]” (Id. at p. 116.) The decision in Rowland abandoned, in favor of applying “ordinary principles of negligence,” the common law rule that a possessor of land owed a greater duty to avoid injury to an invitee than to a trespasser and licensee or social guest. (Id. at p. 118.) Recognizing that “the basic policy of this state ... is that everyone is responsible for an injury caused to another by his want of ordinary care or skill in the management of his property” (id. at p. 119), we held: “The proper test to be applied to the liability of the possessor of land ... is whether in the management of his property he has acted as a reasonable man in view of the probability of injury to others . . . .” (Ibid.)

In Brennan v. Cockrell Investments, Inc. (1973) 35 Cal.App.3d 796 [111 Cal.Rptr. 122], the Court of Appeal, applying our decision in Rowland to an action against a landlord brought by a tenant who had been injured by a defective condition of the leased premises, held that we had abolished the common law rule that (subject to specified exceptions) a landlord is not liable for injuries to a tenant caused by a defect in leased premises: “Possession and degree of control over the premises are significant factors to be weighed in determining whether or not the landlord failed to meet the *1197 statutory standard of care. Indeed, these considerations go to the very essence of the negligence issue. But it is impossible to perceive any legitimate public interest that would be promoted by the creation of a landlord immunity exception .... That a landlord must act toward his tenant as a reasonable person under all of the circumstances . . . seems a sound proposition and one that expresses well the principles of justice and reasonableness upon which the law of torts is based.” (Id. at pp. 800-801.)

In addition to discussing strict liability, the decision in