In Murdock v. Higgins, 454 Mich 46, 54; 559 NW2d 639 (1997), the Supreme Court of Michigan discussed the concept of "duty" in the following terms: Generally, an individual has no duty to protect another who is endangered by a third person's conduct. Where there is a duty to protect an individual from a harm by a third person, that duty to exercise reasonable care arises from a "special relationship" either between the defendant and the victim, or the defendant and the third party who caused the injury. . . . Such a special relationship must be sufficiently strong to require a defendant to take action to benefit the injured party.