TANGIER SCOTT AND MICHAEL SCOTT, APPELLANTS,
v.
FLORIDA SUPERMARKETS, INC., APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Summary judgment for defendant supermarket in slip-and-fall negligence case reversed because evidence of prior similar incidents created a triable issue of constructive notice of the hazardous condition.
A defendant supermarket's prior knowledge of recurring water puddle problems at its entrance during rainy days creates a triable issue of constructive notice precluding summary judgment in a slip-and-fall negligence action.
[1] Prior knowledge of recurring water puddle hazards at a business entrance during rainy weather creates a triable issue of constructive notice, precluding summary judgment…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the defendant had a recurring problem during rainy days with customers falling on water puddles which would form at the entrance of the supermarket”
Safety manager's testimony establishing prior notice of hazardous condition
Tangier Scott slipped and fell on a water puddle near the front entrance of a Florida Supermarkets supermarket on a rainy day. The defendant's former …
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Slip And Fall Negligence cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
This is an appeal by the plaintiffs Tangier and Michael Scott from an adverse final summary judgment entered in a negligence action arising out of a slip-and-fall accident which occurred on the business premises of the defendant Florida Supermarkets, Inc. We reverse and remand for further proceedings upon a holding that on this record there exists a triable issue as to whether the defendant had constructive notice of the puddle of water on which the plaintiff Tangier Scott slipped and fell near the front entrance of the defendant’s supermarket — and, accordingly, the summary judgment in this cause cannot stand.
The defendant’s former safety manager testified at deposition that the defendant had a recurring problem during rainy days with customers falling on water puddles which would form at the entrance of the supermarket; the slip and fall in this case occurred on a rainy day. It was therefore at least arguably foreseeable to the defendant that a water puddle would form near the front entrance of the supermarket during the rainy day in question, and that the plaintiff Tangier Scott might slip on such puddle and injure herself as she did. This being so, the final summary judgment under review is hereby reversed and the cause is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings. Brooks v. Phillip Watts Enters., Inc., 560 So. 2d 339 (Fla. 1st DCA), rev. denied, 567 So. 2d 435 (Fla. 1990); Maryland Maintenance Serv., Inc. v. Palmieri, 559 So. 2d 74, 76 (Fla. 3d DCA), rev. denied, 574 So. 2d 142 (Fla.1990); Fazio v. Dania Jai-Alai Palace, Inc., 473 So. 2d 1345, 1347-48 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985).
Reversed and remanded.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Silver Springs Moose Lodge NO. 1199 v. Orman, 631 So. 2d 1119 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994)…ce” in order to reach the conclusion that the water was on the floor for approximately one hour. Such action would amount to an im [*1122] permissible stacking of inferences and speculation. The Ormans also cite Scott v. Florida Supermarkets, Inc., 580 So. 2d 312 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1991) to support their assertion that the trial court’s ruling was proper in the present case. In Scott, on a rainy day the plaintiff slipped and fell in a puddle near the front entrance of the defendant’s supermarket. The lower court…
-
Vera v. Parkwood Condo. Ass'n, Inc. (Fla. 3d DCA 2026)…tt v. Mattison, 382 So. 2d 873 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), Brooks v. Phillip Watts Enterprises, Inc., 560 So. 2d 339 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990), Maryland Maintenance Service, Inc. v. Palmieri, 559 So. 2d 74 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990), Scott v. Florida Supermarkets, Inc., 580 So. 2d 312 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991), and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Reggie, 714 So. 2d 601, 602-03 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998). Vera argues that pursuant to this case law, she was not required to prove how or when the water came to be on the floor or that the Association caus…
-
Prather v. NCL (Bahamas) Ltd. (S.D. Fla. 2020)…U.S.A., Inc., No. 2:11-CV-14356, 2012 WL 1453573, at *3 (S.D. Fla. Apr. 26, 2012) (noting that a plaintiff “can establish constructive notice if the condition occurs with regularity and thus is foreseeable”) (citing Scott v. Fla. Supermarkets. Inc., 580 So. 2d 312 (Fla 3rd DCA 1991)). And here, as noted above, Magistrate Judge Louis found that the prior incident offered as evidence by Prather was an isolated instance, that occurred ten months before Prather’s accident, in a different restroom, and as a resul…
Authorities Cited
- R.B. Brooks and Cynthia Brooks v. Phillip Watts Enters., Inc., 560 So. 2d 339 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)
- Md. Maint. Serv., Inc. v. Vittorio Palmieri and Bertha Palmieri, 559 So. 2d 74 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990)
- Antonette Fazio and Richard Fazio v. Dania Jai-Alai Palace, Inc., 473 So. 2d 1345 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985)