Greenwood v. Lowe Chemical Co.
Court of Civil Appeals of Texas, 14th District
428 S.W.2d 358 (1968)
Charles Greenwood, a construction worker on Lowe Chemical's (defendant) premises, was warned about the corrosive, unguarded "scrubbing pits" of hot acidic water adjacent to a narrow concrete walkway, but while carrying a 16-foot ladder one day, he stepped backward off the walkway into a pit, lost his balance, fell in entirely, and died from his burns. His wife Rebecca Greenwood (plaintiff) sued Lowe for negligence, arguing Lowe had a duty to protect invitees from extremely hazardous conditions regardless of their obviousness; the trial court granted Lowe summary judgment based on the open-and-obvious-danger doctrine, and Rebecca appealed.
Whether a landowner may be liable to invitees for injuries from open and obvious dangerous conditions on the land, where the danger is so severe that the landowner should have anticipated harm despite the invitees' awareness of it.