Hill v. National Grid
Rhode Island Supreme Court
11 A.3d 110 (2011)
Austin Hill (plaintiff), playing touch football with friends on a vacant lot owned by National Grid (defendant), was seriously cut on a protruding metal post and taken to the emergency room by his mother; the Hills sued under an attractive nuisance theory, and National Grid argued it owed no duty because the boys were trespassing and it had no knowledge children trespassed there or that the metal post existed. The trial court granted National Grid summary judgment for failure to show the company knew or had reason to know children were trespassing, and the Hills appealed.
Whether the doctrine of attractive nuisance requires that the defendant know or have reason to know that children are likely to trespass on its property, rather than requiring proof that children are, in fact, trespassing.