MICHAEL SELF, APPELLANT,
v.
B & F CRANE SERVICE, INC., AND SOUTHEASTERN FIDELITY INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLEES

Fla. 3d DCA | 1983-10-11
No. 82-1526
Before HENDRY, BARKDULL and HUBBART, JJ.
439 So. 2d 930 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1983) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

A worker injured by stepping on a defective board and falling onto concrete debris appeals a summary judgment for the defendants. The court reversed, finding genuine disputes of material fact about whether the defendants' placement of the concrete debris was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff's injuries.


Holding

The trial court erred in granting summary judgment. There are genuine issues of material fact regarding whether the defendants' placement of the concrete debris was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff's injuries, and those issues must be resolved at trial rather than on summary judgment.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant moving for summary judgment bears the burden of demonstrating that no genuine issues of material fact exist and that they are entitled to judgment as a matter…

[2] Summary disposition of a causation issue is improper when reasonable minds could differ as to whether the defendant's placement of an object substantially caused the plai…

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Key Quotes

“the record discloses facts upon which reasonable men could differ as to whether appellant's injuries were in fact substantially caused by appellee's placement of the concrete debris”

Establishes that summary judgment was improper because genuine factual disputes remain regarding proximate causation

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Facts & Procedural History

Appellant Self was injured while working on the second story of a construction project when he stepped onto a board that gave way, causing him to fall…

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Opinion of the Court
HENDRY, Judge.

HENDRY, Judge.

Appellant was injured while working on the second story of a construction project when he stepped out onto a board which gave way causing him to fall on a pile of concrete debris that had been placed upon the ground by appellee, B & F Crane Service, Inc. Appellant sued B & F and Southeastern Fidelity Insurance Company and others. After answer B & F and Southeastern moved for a summary final judgment which the trial court granted. It is from this judgment that appellant has appealed.

The trial court ruled upon the authority of General Telephone Company of Florida v. Choate, 409 So. 2d 1101 (Fla. 2d DCA), rev. denied, 418 So. 2d 1278 (Fla.1982), that as a matter of law there was no genuine issue of material fact to be tried and the appellees were entitled to judgment as a matter of law. We find error and reverse.

The trial court’s reliance on Choate was misplaced. The phone company “pedestal” upon which Mr. Choate fell while working on a nearby utility pole was required to be located in close proximity to the pole and a person working on the pole could fall from wherever he was working, making the pedestal a hazard wherever it was placed. Under these circumstances, it was held that the phone company was not negligent because the pedestal was merely a passive, static condition which made the plaintiffs damages possible, and thus the particular placement of the pedestal was not the proximate cause of Choate’s injuries. The court in Choate properly exercised its function of determining whether the plaintiff’s injuries were in fact caused by the placement of the pedestal, having been presented with facts upon which reasonable men could not differ as to whether the defendant’s conduct was or was not a substantial factor in producing the plaintiff’s injuries.

W. Prosser, Law of Torts 289 (4th Ed.1971). Sub judiee, however, the record discloses facts upon which reasonable men could differ as to whether appellant’s injuries were in fact substantially caused by appellee’s placement of the concrete debris. This is particularly true since appellees conceded, for purposes of the summary judgment motion, negligence in placing and leaving the concrete debris in the location where appellant fell upon it. Summary disposition of the causation issue was therefore improper.

W. Prosser, supra, at 289.

The appellees having failed to meet their burden of showing that no genuine issues of material fact existed and they were entitled to judgment as a matter of law, Whitten v. Progressive Cas. Ins. Co., 410 So. 2d 501 (Fla.1982); Shepard v. City of Palatka, 414 So. 2d 1077 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981); Horton v. Gulf Power Co., 401 So. 2d 1384 (Fla. 1st DCA), rev. denied, 411 So. 2d 382 (Fla.1981), the summary judgment for appellees must be reversed.

Accordingly, the judgment appealed is reversed and the cause is remanded for a trial on all issues.

Reversed and remanded.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Keene v. Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., 596 So. 2d 700 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)
    …-and proximately caused by such negligent conduct is ordinarily a question for the jury. Gibson v. Avis Rent-A-Car System, Inc., 386 So. 2d 520 (Fla.1980); Stewart v. Boho, Inc., 493 So. 2d 95 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986); Self v. B & F Crane Service, Inc., 439 So. 2d 930 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983), rev. denied, 450 So. 2d 485 (Fla.1984); Crislip v. Holland, 401 So. 2d 1115 (Fla. 4th DCA), rev. denied, 411 So. 2d 380 (Fla.1981). The record in this case contains competent evidence to prove that it was foreseeable that placing…

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