KANSAS CITY — A federal judge has granted summary judgment to the owner and manager of the Coach House Apartments in Kansas City, ending a tenant’s lawsuit over injuries she said she suffered after wasps attacked her near the complex’s mailboxes.
U.S. District Judge Greg Kays ruled July 23 that Caitlin Hunter’s lease contained an enforceable provision releasing the apartment owner, KC Coach House LLC and property manager Landmark Realty of Missouri LLC from negligence claims.
The court also found Hunter could not establish the required loss for her claim under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.
Hunter alleged that on Aug. 21, 2021, she was attempting to retrieve mail from an exterior mailbox hub when wasps attacked her.
She claimed she ran from the wasps, tripped and fell on a damaged area of concrete and injured her ankle.
The court’s order said the concrete near the mailbox hub included crumbling and missing portions and an uneven surface, and that the area was poorly lit.
Hunter said she called the apartment office twice before the incident, around Aug. 12 and Aug. 17, 2021, to report a wasp nest at the mailbox hub.
Landmark had no record of Hunter or any other tenant reporting a wasp nest or raising a concern about lighting in the area.
The court noted that Hunter did not have any admissible phone records to support her assertion that she made the calls.
The court said Hunter signed a 12-month lease in August 2020, covering the period from Sept. 1, 2020, through Aug. 31, 2021. The lease contained an exculpatory clause that released the owner and Landmark from liability for injuries or damages occurring on the premises or in common areas, including losses attributable to their negligence.
Kays found the provision was clear, conspicuous and enforceable under Missouri law.
The clause appeared on its own page, in larger font than the rest of the lease, with bold, capitalized text and an underlined heading. The word “negligence” was underlined and italicized and Hunter signed immediately below the provision, the court said.
Hunter argued the provision was vague, ambiguous and unconscionable, and that it could not bar her premises-liability, negligence and negligence-per-se claims.
The court rejected those arguments, concluding that the provision specifically waived negligence claims without purporting to waive claims that cannot be released under Missouri law, such as intentional torts.
The court also rejected Hunter’s argument that her negligence-per-se claim, based on alleged violations of Kansas City municipal codes, could not be waived.
Kays wrote that negligence per se is a way to prove the duty and breach elements of an ordinary negligence claim and that the lease provision applied to the claim.
Hunter’s consumer-protection claim was based in part on monthly fees she paid for pest control and common-area utilities.
She argued that the defendants did not address the wasp nest and provided inadequate lighting.
But the court found she had not shown an ascertainable loss, which requires proof of the difference between the value of what was represented in the transaction and the actual value received at the time of the transaction.
The court also dismissed Hunter’s gross-negligence claim, writing that Missouri does not recognize a separate cause of action for gross negligence.
Hunter’s effort to characterize the claim as recklessness was unsuccessful because the allegations described negligence rather than conduct involving a high probability that substantial harm would result, the order said.
Hunter first sued in Jackson County Circuit Court in September 2023.
The defendants removed that case to federal court, where the court dismissed it without prejudice after finding the lease provision barred her claims.
Hunter filed a second case in state court in September 2024, asserting five claims, and the defendants again removed the case to federal court.
After discovery closed, the defendants moved for summary judgment. Kays granted that motion on all claims.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Western Division case number: 4:24-cv-00772
