Dictionary:

invitee

  (ĭn'vī-tē')

One that is invited.

Person who is expressly or by implication asked to visit property in the possession, care, or control of another person. The inviter has the obligation to render his or her property safe for the visit of the invitee. Liability insurance is designed to protect an insured in the event that his or her negligent acts or omissions result in bodily injury to the invitee.

An individual who enters another's premises as a result of an express or implied invitation of the owner or occupant for their mutual gain or benefit.

For example, a customer in a restaurant or a depositor entering a bank to cash a check are both invitees. The owner or occupier of the premises onto which an invitee goes has a duty to exercise reasonable care for such invitee's protection.

An invitee is distinguishable from a licensee, who enters another's premises with the occupier's consent, but for his or her own purpose or benefit alone. A further distinction exists between an invitee and a trespasser, or one who intentionally enters another's property without consent or permission.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a visitor to whom hospitality is extended
  Synonym: guest

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Tort law
Part of the common law series
Negligence
Duty of care  · Standard of care
Proximate cause  · Res ipsa loquitur
Calculus of negligence  · Eggshell skull
Negligent emotional distress
Rescue doctrine  · Duty to rescue
Statutory Torts
Product liability  · Ultrahazardous activity
Trespassers  · Licensees  · Invitees
Attractive nuisance
Property torts
Trespass  · Conversion
Detinue  · Replevin  · Trover
Nuisance
Public nuisance  · Rylands v. Fletcher
Intentional torts
Assault  · Battery  · False imprisonment
Intentional emotional distress
Consent  · Necessity  · Self defense
Dignitary torts
Defamation  · Invasion of privacy
Breach of confidence  · Abuse of process
Malicious prosecution
Economic torts
Fraud  · Tortious interference
Conspiracy  · Restraint of trade
Liability, Defenses, Remedies
Comparative and Contributory negligence
Last clear chance
Vicarious liability  · Volenti non fit injuria
Ex turpi causa non oritur actio
Damages  · Injunction
Common law
Contract law  · Property law
Wills and trusts
Criminal law  · Evidence

In the law of torts, an invitee is a person who is invited to land by the possessor of the land as a member of the public, or one who's invited to the land for the purpose of business dealings with the possessor of the land. The status of a visitor as an invitee (as opposed to a trespasser or a licensee) defines the legal rights of the visitor if they are injured due to the negligence of the property owner.

The property owner has a duty to make the property safe for the invitee, which includes conducting a reasonable inspection of the premises to uncover hidden dangers. The property owner also has a duty to warn the invitee of hazardous conditions that can not be fixed. Furthermore, property owners assume a duty to rescue an invitee who falls into peril while visiting the property. If an independent contractor hired by the landowner injures an invitee (intentionally or through negligence), the owner can be held vicariously liable. This represents the broadest duty of care owed to any class of visitors to the property.

It should be noted that a property owner who selectively limits entry to the property - to paying customers, to a set number of people, or even in a discriminatory fashion - is nonetheless opening the property to invitees,^[clarify] so long as the property owner holds the property open to some segment of the general public.

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