Schultz v. Consumers Power Co.

In this wrongful death action brought by Alice Schultz, personal representative of the estate of Duane Schultz, we granted leave to determine whether defendant Consumers Power Company owed a duty of care to Duane Schultz to reasonably inspect, repair, and install its electric conductors. The Court of Appeals concluded, as a matter of law, that defendant owed no such duty. We reverse.

I

On July 13, 1983, the decedent, Duane Schultz, was electrocuted while assisting a friend, Keith Osmond, paint his house in Merrill, Michigan. The fatal electric current emanated from defendant’s medium-voltage…