In Pennsylvania, a business owner is traditionally only liable for injuries that occur on their property. A recent United States District Court case has thrown that assumption into question by considering whether business owners are also liable for incidents that do not occur on their property, but that begin on their property.

In Paynton v. Spuds, LLC., the plaintiff was eating at Spuds restaurant in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. During the night Paynton and his friends were subjected to threatening behavior from other patrons.  Paynton left the restaurant because of the perceived danger and was assaulted outside by the threatening customers who had followed him.

The plaintiff later sued Spuds claiming they were liable because the incident began on their property, a novel question under Pennsylvania law. The plaintiff offered a series of appellate decisions from other jurisdictions (New Jersey Superior Court, Iowa Court of Appeals, and the 7th Circuit) where a party was found liable for a multitude of events involving conduct occurring both on and off the defendant’s land.

The Defendants argued that under Pennsylvania law, the liability of a business owner is strictly limited to circumstances where an injury occurs on land that it owns and filed a motion for summary judgment, but the District Judge, in a memorandum decision, denied the motion, finding that Spuds might owe a duty as a matter of law because of a potential nexus between events that occurred on the defendants’ premises and the subsequent assault that occurred almost immediately outside its door. This denial leaves open the possibility that a business owner’s liability in Pennsylvania may soon be expanded to include events that occur both on and off the defendant’s land.

Thanks to Joseph Connor for his contribution to this post.  Please write to Mike Bono for more information.