Raymond Oliver v. Narragansett Bay Insurance Company

Citations

• 205 A.3d 445

Syllabus

This case stems from the tragic death of a four-year-old who drowned in a swimming pool sold to his grandmother by the defendant, NAMCO. The child's parents, the plaintiffs Raymond Oliver and Tiffany Gear, appealed from a Superior Court judgment in favor of the defendant following the grant of NAMCO's motion for summary judgment. On appeal, the plaintiffs argued that genuine issues of material fact existed as to whether: (1) NAMCO negligently failed to warn the child's grandmother about safety features of a pool ladder (2) an agency relationship existed between NAMCO and the pool installer and (3) NAMCO negligently failed to properly vet and supervise pool installers included on a list distributed to customers. The Supreme Court first held that the plaintiffs failed to adequately plead a failure-to-warn claim. Next, the Supreme Court held that the plaintiffs had demonstrated a disputed issue of material fact as to whether NAMCO had an agency relationship with the pool installer. Additionally, the Supreme Court held that threshold issues of fact precluded summary judgment as to whether NAMCO had a duty to vet and supervise pool installers on the list. Accordingly, the Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the Superior Court.