Landlord Must Stand Trial for Negligence to Customers that Tenant Sexually Assaulted

What Happened: A Utah shopping center leased property for use as a massage therapy center, even though the tenant didn’t have a license to provide those services in the state. Four years later, three customers claimed that the tenant sexually assaulted them during their massage appointments and sued the landlord for negligence. The landlord denied owing a duty of reasonable care to the customers and asked the court to dismiss the case. The court rejected the motion.

Ruling: The Utah appeals court agreed that the landlord owed the customers a legal duty and ordered a trial. 

Reasoning: The landlord contended that the lower court was wrong to conclude that a commercial landlord has a legal duty to customers to verify that a tenant has a required license to operate. But that’s not what the lower court had ruled, said the appeals court. What the court actually said was that under state law, commercial landlords owe “a categorical duty of care to third parties/invitees,” including the customers in this case, to exercise reasonable care to keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition.” So, the lower court was right to deny the motion to dismiss. However, the appeals court faulted its analysis of whether the alleged sexual assaults were reasonably foreseeable.

• D.W. v. FPA Sandy Mall Assocs., 2024 UT 32, 2024 Utah LEXIS 93