§ 31-7 Premises Liability - Duty Owed to Invitee - Business' Duty to Protect Invitees from Foreseeable Crime

• Library: South Carolina Requests to Charge - Civil (SCBar) (2016 Ed.)

§ 31-7 Premises Liability - Duty Owed to Invitee - Business' Duty to Protect Invitees from Foreseeable Crime

A business owner has a duty to take reasonable care to protect its invitees. However, this duty does not extend to protection from criminal attacks from third parties unless the business owner knew or had reason to know the criminal attack would occur. Accordingly, the defendant has a duty to protect the plaintiff from foreseeable crime.

A possessor of land who holds it open to the public for entry for his business purposes is subject to liability to members of the public while they are upon the land for such a purpose, for physical harm caused by the intentionally harmful acts of third persons, and by the failure of the possessor to exercise reasonable care to discover that such acts are being done or are likely to be done. That is, the duty owed by an owner or occupier of premises extends to warning or protecting an invitee against the criminal acts of third persons, if, but...