Machado v. Yacht Haven U.S.V.I., LLC

Elissa Machado (plaintiff), an employee at a store in Yacht Haven U.S.V.I., LLC's (Yacht Haven's) (defendant's) shopping complex, tripped on a sprinkler head and broke her leg while walking over a parking-lot median - a common practice among patrons and employees that Yacht Haven knew about but neither prohibited nor posted warnings against, since crossing the median avoided walking the length of the lot to reach the farther parking row. The superior court granted Yacht Haven summary judgment under the traditional trichotomy framework categorizing entrants as invitees, licensees, or trespassers, finding no duty owed to Machado, and she appealed.