Gray v. America West Airlines, Inc

In Gray v. America West Airlines, Inc. (1989) 209 Cal. App. 3d 76, where the court weighed the Rowland v. Christian factors in negating an airline's liability to a passenger who tripped over luggage left in the area of ingress and egress to the airline's ticket counter, the court stated: "In premises liability cases, summary judgment may properly be granted where a defendant unequivocally establishes its lack of ownership, possession, or control of the property alleged to be in a dangerous or defective condition. This follows from the rule that the duty to take affirmative action for the protection of individuals coming onto one's property 'is grounded in the possession of the premises and the attendant right to control and manage the premises.' Without the 'crucial element' of control over the subject premises , no duty to exercise reasonable care to prevent injury on such property can be found. " (Id. at p. 81.)