Flavia Linnea Borgo v. The Narragansett Electric Company d/b/a National Grid

Syllabus

The plaintiff, eighteen-year-old Flavia Linnea Borgo, suffered a tragic accident in a utility substation which resulted in serious injuries, including the amputation of her left hand. The question presented to the Supreme Court was whether the owner of the substation, The Narragansett Electric Company d/b/a National Grid, owed a duty of care to Borgo, an admitted adult trespasser at the time of the accident. The plaintiff asserted that such a duty was owed to her by National Grid either under premises liability or through safety regulations, promulgated by the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission, that National Grid was subject to. The plaintiff also asserted that the hearing justice erred by disregarding an expert affidavit that, according to the plaintiff, provided evidence that National Grid had breached a duty it owed to the plaintiff, whether as a landowner or as an electrical distributor. <br> <br>The Supreme Court held that National Grid did not owe the plaintiff a duty of care under premises liability because she was an undiscovered trespasser and actual discovery, as opposed to constructive discovery, is necessary to create a duty owed from a landowner to a trespasser. The Supreme Court further held that the safety regulations did not create a duty of care flowing from National Grid to the plaintiff because the regulations were not designed to protect a class of which the plaintiff was a member. Additionally, the Supreme Court held that the hearing justice did not err by not considering the affidavit proffered by the plaintiff, because a duty must be established before evidence of a breach of duty can be considered. <br><br>Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Superior Court. <br>