── Michael Carey-Thomann v. University of Alaska, Fairbanks and Board of Regents ──
Court: Alaska Supreme Court
Date: May 01, 2026
Category: General
Notice: This opinion is subject to correction before publication in the PACIFIC REPORTER.
Readers are requested to bring errors to the attention of the Clerk of the Appellate Courts,
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[email protected].
THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
MICHAEL CAREY-THOMANN, )
) Supreme Court No. S-19081
Appellant, )
) Superior Court No. 4FA-22-01389 CI
v. )
) OPINION
UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA )
FAIRBANKS and BOARD OF ) No. 7809 – May 1, 2026
REGENTS, )
)
Appellees. )
)
Appeal from the Superior Court of the State of Alaska,
Fourth Judicial District, Fairbanks, Brent E. Bennett, Judge.
Appearances: Sandra K. Rolfe and Mike A. Stepovich,
Fairbanks, for Appellant. Kristin E. Crabb, Guess & Rudd
P.C., Anchorage, for Appellees.
Before: Carney, Chief Justice, and Borghesan, Henderson,
Pate, and Oravec, Justices.
HENDERSON, Justice.
INTRODUCTION
A blind student fell off the balcony of a building on his university campus
when he mistook a guardrail for a bench and climbed over it. He sued the university
for negligence. The superior court granted summary judgment to the university, finding
that it owed no duty to the student that could sustain a negligence claim. The student
appeals. Because our precedent establishes that a defendant has no duty to protect a
plaintiff from risks created by his own conduct, we affirm the grant of summary
judgment to the university.
FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
A. Facts
1. Background
Michael Carey-Thomann has been blind since he was a child. He was a
student at University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and began living on campus around
2017. When navigating around campus he would follow set paths to avoid getting lost.
He would sometimes climb over metal benches when walking around campus.
At some point during his time as a student, a UAF representative showed
Carey-Thomann around parts of the UAF campus, though they did not visit every area
of campus. Carey-Thomann recalled that the representative “did not show . . . or
explain . . . the areas that [he] should stay away from or that were unsafe areas for
someone who is blind.” The representative showed Carey-Thomann the interior of the
student union building, known as the Wood Center, and described the lower-level
courtyard outside that building, but did not inform Carey-Thomann that the Wood
Center had a second-story balcony protected by a guardrail.
2. The accident
In March 2020, UAF granted Carey-Thomann special permission to
remain living in his UAF dormitory during an emergency closure due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
Later that month, Carey-Thomann attempted to get dinner at the
convenience store in his dorm complex, but it was closed. He proceeded to the north
entrance of the Wood Center to get dinner at the dining area there, but found the doors
were locked. A fellow student helped Carey-Thomann walk downstairs to a lower entry
to the Wood Center, which was open. Carey-Thomann was unfamiliar with the lower
entry, which was not part of one of his established routes. The student who showed
-2- 7809
him the entry did not descri