In Langenhahn v. West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. (2017AP2178), the Court of Appeals District III held that recreational immunity applied when a pedestrian was injured leaving a community event.

Paula Langenhahn tripped on a barricade while walking to her vehicle from the community event Marathon Fun Days. The barricade was placed to close off a street for the event, which was organized by the American Legion Post 469. Langenhahn filed this negligence action against Post 469, but the circuit court dismissed the claim on the grounds of Wisconsin’s recreational immunity statute Wis. Stat. § 895.52.

The appeals court upheld the dismissal of the claim, restating that recreational immunity applied to Post 469. Relying on the case Roberts v. T.H.E. Insurance Co., which said the organizer of an event is an immune “owner” and “occupier” of property under Wis. Stat. § 895.52, the court determined that Post 469 was also an immune “owner” because it was occupying the park area as the organizer of the Marathon Fun Days event. Furthermore, the court determined that Langenhan walking back from the event was inextricably connected to the recreational activity of attending the event, so she was “engag[ing] in a recreational activity” for the purposes of Wis. Stat. § 895.52(2).