HECTOR GARCIA
v.
WINN-DIXIE STORES, INC.
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Summary judgment for a business in a slip-and-fall case on a transitory foreign substance is proper when the record contains no evidence of the business's actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition.
[1] In a slip-and-fall action involving a transitory foreign substance, summary judgment is appropriate when the record contains no evidence that the business establishment h…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the summary judgment record was devoid of evidence that Winn-Dixie had either actual or constructive knowledge of any transitory foreign substance on the floor of its store”
Court's explanation for affirming summary judgment
Hector Garcia slipped and fell on an unknown substance in a Winn-Dixie store. The trial court granted Winn-Dixie's summary judgment motion filed in Ju…
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Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida
Opinion filed June 18, 2025. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
________________
No. 3D24-0010 Lower Tribunal No. 20-6509 ________________
Hector Garcia, Appellant,
vs.
Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., Appellee.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Vivianne del Rio, Judge.
Shannin Law Firm, P.A., and Nicholas A. Shannin and Dayna Maeder (Orlando), for appellant.
Cosio Law Group, and Eduardo Cosio, Julie Bork Glassman and Luis
A. Arguelles, for appellee.
Before EMAS, SCALES and BOKOR, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
2
Appellant Hector Garcia, who slipped and fell on an unknown substance in a store operated by appellee Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., challenges the trial court’s final summary judgment in favor of Winn-Dixie. We affirm because the summary judgment record was devoid of evidence that Winn-Dixie had either actual or constructive knowledge of any transitory foreign substance on the floor of its store.1 We also conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in conducting the November1, 2023 hearing on appellee’s June 20, 2022 summary judgment motion. See Canakaris v. Canakaris, 382 So. 2d 1197, 1203 (Fla. 1980) (“The discretionary ruling of the trial judge should be disturbed only when his decision fails to satisfy [the] test of reasonableness.”); White v. Discovery Commc’ns, LLC, 365 So. 3d 379, 385-86 (Fla. 1st DCA 2023) (holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by declining to postpone a summary
If a person slips and falls on a transitory foreign substance in a business establishment, the injured person must prove that the business establishment had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition and should have taken action to remedy it. Constructive knowledge may be proven by circumstantial evidence showing that: (a) The dangerous condition existed for such a length of time that, in the exercise of ordinary care, the business establishment should have known of the condition[.]
§ 768.0755(1)(a), Fla. Stat. (2023).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Canakaris v. Canakaris, 382 So. 2d 1197 (Fla. 1980)
- Angeles v. Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., 326 So. 3d 811 (Fla. 3d DCA 2021)
- Doe v. Soothe, Inc., 365 So. 3d 379 (Fla. 3d DCA 2024)