PREMISES LIABILITY: SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES
Melton v. Boustred, (Sixth District, March 12, 2010) --- Cal.Rptr.3d ----, 2010 WL 881919
Three men who were attacked, beaten and stabbed by a group of unknown individuals while attending a party at a private residence filed suit against the homeowner on various theories including negligence, premises liability and public nuisance. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendant had advertised the party using an open invitation on the social networking website, MySpace.com, and that the use of the internet to promote his party had constituted an unlimited, unrestricted and widely broadcasted invitation to the general public to converge at his property. The plaintiffs further alleged that the defendant was negligent in actively creating an “out-of-control and dangerous public MySpace party” in that the unrestricted invitation exposed the plaintiffs and other guests to an unreasonable risk of bodily harm arising from an unregulated publically advertised event involving consumption of alcohol without restriction on the number or identity of persons attending.
The trial court sustained a demurrer to the first amended complaint without leave to amend, and the court of appeal affirmed, concluding that the defendant had no legal duty, since the facts involved neither misfeasance nor a special relationship with the plaintiffs:
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