LAURA JOHNSON, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF JASON JOHNSON, DECEASED, APPELLANT,
v.
HOWARD MARK PRODUCTIONS, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEE
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A landowner may owe a duty of care for injuries occurring off their property if their conduct creates a foreseeable zone of risk that extends beyond the property boundaries.
[1] A landowner may owe a duty of care to protect invitees on property adjacent to the landowner's property if the landowner's foreseeable zone of risk extends beyond the bou…
[2] Summary judgment is premature when a defendant has not satisfied the difficult evidentiary burden of showing unequivocally that there was no negligence or that the plaint…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe plaintiff's decedent was killed crossing a highway after parking due to the defendant nightclub's allegedly insufficient parking. The trial court …
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ALTENBERND, Judge.
Laura Johnson, as personal representative of the estate of Jason Johnson, appeals a summary judgment entered in favor of Howard Mark Productions, Inc. We reverse because the trial court prematurely determined as a matter of law that the defendant, a landowner, could not owe a duty in this case that included a standard of care to protect an invitee on property adjacent to the landowner’s property. This determination was made at summary judgment before the defendant had satisfied the difficult evidentiary burden described in Wills v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 351 So. 2d 29 (Fla.1977).
The amended complaint alleges that Jason Johnson was struck and killed by an automobile on June 4, 1988, while attempting to cross U.S. Highway 41 in Bradenton, Florida, to patronize the defendant’s teenage nightclub. The plaintiff maintains that this accident was caused, at least in part, because the teenage nightclub had “woefully insufficient” parking. As a result, the teenagers parked on the opposite side of U.S. 41 and walked across the highway in the dark. The amended complaint asserts that the inadequate parking was a dangerous condition of which the defendant knew or should have known.
The trial court entered the summary judgment based exclusively upon responses to requests for admissions. The plaintiff admitted only that Jason Johnson was struck and killed by an automobile on U.S. 41, not on property owned or leased by the defendant. The defendant’s motion for summary judgment was not supported by depositions or other discovery describing the accident or the condition of its premises. Thus, we must assume at this stage of the proceedings that the defendant’s parking was inadequate, causing teenagers to regularly cross the highway in the dark, and that the defendant was aware of this dangerous situation.
Although a landowner is most commonly liable for injuries that occur on the property, there are occasions when a landowner may be liable for a dangerous condition that results in injury off the premises. See, e.g., Pope v. Carl Hankins, Inc., 411 So. 2d 898 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982) (summary judgment premature where defendant’s wooden barrier may have obstructed visibility and caused accident on adjacent highway); Holiday Inns, Inc. v. Shelburne, 576 So. 2d 322 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991) (owner of lounge may be liable for injuries to patrons in an adjacent parking lot), dismissed, 589 So. 2d 291 (Fla.1991).
See generally W. Prosser, Law of Torts, § 57 (4th ed. 1971) (discussing property owners’ duties for acts occurring outside premises); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 371 (1965) (possessor of land may be subject to liability for physical harm to others outside land caused by activity carried on by possessor thereon).
In other words, the general standard of care which the common law places on all landowners to protect invitees under a wide spectrum of circumstances can authorize a case-specific standard of care requiring protection of invitees on nearby property if the landowner’s foreseeable zone of risk extends beyond the boundaries of its property. Cf. Kaisner v. Kolb, 543 So. 2d 732, 735 (Fla.1989) (“Where a defendant’s conduct creates a foreseeable zone of risk, the law generally will recognize a duty placed upon defendant either to lessen the risk or see that sufficient precautions are taken to protect others from the harm that the risk poses.”) and McCain v. Florida Power Corp., 593 So. 2d 500, 502 & n. 1 (Fla.1992) (to define duty, some inquiry must be made into factual allegations to determine whether a foreseeable, general zone of risk was created by defendant’s conduct).
Other courts have concluded in the context of cases involving similar dangerous conditions that the case-specific standard of care can be a question for the jury to decide. See, e.g., Rapp v. Tolbert Enters., Inc., 591 So. 2d 281 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991) (summary judgment improper when motel guest struck while crossing highway from remote parking), review denied, 601 So. 2d 554 (Fla.1992); Thunderbird Drive-In Theatre v. Reed, 571 So. 2d 1341 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990) (jury question presented when inadequate entrance area on theatre premises resulted in congested conditions on adjacent highway), review denied, 577 So. 2d 1328 (Fla.1991).
Because the defendant has presented insufficient evidence in support of its motion for summary judgment, neither this court nor the trial court can decide at this time whether the case-specific standard of care is an issue for resolution by the judge or by the jury. See Dennis v. City of Tampa, 581 So. 2d 1345 (Fla. 2d DCA), review denied, 591 So. 2d 181 (Fla.1991).
See also Wills (movant must show unequivocally that there was no negligence, or that plaintiff’s negligence was sole proximate cause of injury to receive a summary judgment).
Accordingly, the summary judgment in favor of the defendant is reversed, and the case remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Reversed and remanded.
FRANK, A.C.J., and THREADGILL, J., concur.
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Williams v. Davis, 974 So. 2d 1052 (Fla. 2007)…373. . Cf. Gunlock v. Gill Hotels Co., 622 So. 2d 163, 164 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993) (finding that a hotel owed a duty to exercise reasonable care for safety of patrons passing over highway to and from its premises); Johnson v. Howard Mark Prods., Inc., 608 So. 2d 937, 938 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992) (holding that a trial court prematurely determined that a night club had no duty to protect patrons from dangers incidental to parking); Thunderbird Drive-In Theatre, Inc. v. Reed, 571 So. 2d 1341, 1343-44 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)…
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Gunlock v. Gill Hotels Co., Inc., 622 So. 2d 163 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)…passage across the highway. Although a landowner is most commonly liable for injuries that occur on its property, a landowner may be liable for a dangerous condition that results in injury off its premises. Johnson v. Howard Mark Productions, Inc., 608 So. 2d 937, 938 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992). Generally, where a landowner creates a foreseeable zone of risk, a landowner has a duty either to lessen the risk or take sufficient precautions to protect invitees from the harm the risk poses. Id.; see Kaisner v. Kolb, 543…
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Ny Tran v. Bancroft, 648 So. 2d 314 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995)…third parties outside the property. In support of his position, appellant cites several cases where the courts have held property owners liable for dangerous conditions that result in injury off the premises. See Johnson v. Howard Mark Prods., Inc., 608 So. 2d 937 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992) (landowner may be liable for injuries occurring off the premises where a teenager was hit by a car when he attempted to cross the highway to patronize the landowner’s teenage nightclub); Holiday Inns, Inc. v. Shelburne, 576 So. 2d…
Previewing 3 of 14 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- McCAIN v. Fla. Power Corp., 593 So. 2d 500 (Fla. 1992)
- Wills v. Sears, 351 So. 2d 29 (Fla. 1977)
- Kaisner v. Kolb, 543 So. 2d 732 (Fla. 1989)
- Holiday Inns, Inc. v. Shelburne, 576 So. 2d 322 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991)
- Thunderbird Drive-In Theatre, Inc. v. Reed, 571 So. 2d 1341 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)
- Regala Dennis v. City OF Tampa, 581 So. 2d 1345 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991)
- Metal Form Corp. OF Am. v. Cain, 411 So. 2d 898 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982)
- Blondine T. Pope v. Carl Hankins, Inc., 411 So. 2d 898 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982)
- Rapp v. Tolbert Enters., Inc., 591 So. 2d 281 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)