LAURA SICA, APPELLANT,
v.
SAM CALIENDO DESIGN, INC., ROYAL PALM IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION, INC., AND CITY OF BOCA RATON, APPELLEES
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Appellant Laura Sica appealed summary judgments granted in favor of two defendants in a trip-and-fall case. The court reversed the summary judgment against Sam Caliendo Design, Inc., finding it premature because the trial court conducted the summary judgment hearing before a properly noticed deposition of the defendant could occur, while affirming the judgment against Royal Palm Improvement Association, Inc.
The summary judgment in favor of Sam Caliendo Design, Inc. was reversed and remanded because it was premature—a properly noticed deposition should have been completed before summary judgment was granted. The summary judgment in favor of Royal Palm Improvement Association, Inc. was affirmed.
[1] A summary judgment is premature when discovery is still in progress and depositions are pending.
[2] A plaintiff is entitled to a deposition before their lawsuit is summarily disposed of, provided the deposition was properly noticed and no protective order was sought or…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“if a deposition has been properly noticed and there is no protective order, nor one sought, the plaintiff is entitled to a deposition before his lawsuit is summarily disposed of”
Establishes the core legal principle that summary judgment cannot proceed before a properly noticed deposition is completed
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant Sica, age 77, tripped and fell on concrete spilled onto a roadway in her subdivision on December 10, 1990. Sam Caliendo Design, Inc. alleged…
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BIRKEN, ARTHUR M., Associate Judge.
This case comes before this court on an appeal by the plaintiff, appellant Laura Sica, from adverse summary final judgments granted by the trial court.
There initially were two defendants whose motions for summary judgment were granted. Upon reviewing the record, we are satisfied that the trial court was correct in granting the motion relative to the Royal Palm Improvement Association, Inc.; however, we are also of the opinion that granting the motion in favor of Sam Caliendo Design, Inc. was premature.
The focus herein involves a trip and fall over some concrete that had been spilled onto the roadway of a street in appellant’s subdivision. Appellee Sam Caliendo Design, Inc., allegedly was responsible for spilling the concrete some years ago when it was building houses in that area. By her own admission, the appellant tripped and fell on the same concrete spill approximately two years prior to the subject fall that occurred on December 10, 1990. Appellant, who was seventy-seven years old at the time of the second incident, also testified that she walked the same two mile route daily and whenever she passed the spot she would walk around the concrete so as to avoid it.
There are additional facts concerning the incident which this court need not explore in any great detail. The issue concerning this appeal is that Mr. Sam Caliendo had been scheduled for a deposition. As an accommodation to counsel for Mr. Caliendo, appellant’s attorney agreed to reset the date of the deposition. The deposition was rescheduled. A motion for summary judgment was scheduled prior to the date of the rescheduled deposition. However, counsel for appellee would not agree to reset the summary judgment hearing and the deposition of Mr. Cal-iendo was not moved up. Over objection of counsel for appellant, the hearing on the motion for summary judgment was conducted and summary judgments were entered adversely to appellant.
Regardless of whether counsel’s actions were unintentional, this court still cannot sanction such conduct which allowed the deposition to be avoided prior to the summary judgment hearing. While it was argued that appellee Calendo’s case was so strong that any error was essentially harmless, we cannot agree because there is no way to determine what may or may not have been said during the course of the avoided deposition.
In Dannar v. Bay Steel Corp., 445 So. 2d 704, 705 (Fla. 4th DCA1984), this court held that if a deposition has been properly noticed and there is no protective order, nor one sought, the plaintiff is entitled to a deposition before his lawsuit is summarily disposed of. See also Singer v. Star, 510 So. 2d 687, 639 (Fla. 4th DCA1987) (“Facts upon which the court based its decision were not fully developed because discovery was in progress, and depositions were pending. Summary judgment was therefore premature.”).
For the reasons stated above, the trial court’s decision granting summary judgment in favor of Sam Caliendo Design, Inc., is reversed and remanded to the trial court for further proceedings. The decision as to the defendant Royal Palm Improvement Association, Inc., is affirmed.
ANSTEAD and GLICKSTEIN, JJ., concur.
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UFF DAA, Inc. v. Towne Realty, Inc., 666 So. 2d 199 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995)…ovided in the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, including the taking of depositions, and it is reversible error to enter summary judgment when discovery is in progress and the deposition of a party is pending. See Sica v. Sam Caliendo Design, Inc., 623 So. 2d 859 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993); Singer v. Star, 510 So. 2d 637 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987). Application of this case law demonstrates that the instant summary judgment order was entered prematurely. Towne Realty maintains that, although discovery had not been complet…
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Smith v. Choya T. Smith and Arrestor Holley, 734 So. 2d 1142 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999)…iscovery are outstanding. See Villages at Mango Key Homeowners Ass’n, Inc. v. Hunter Development, Inc., 699 So. 2d 337 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997); Abbate v. Publix Super Markets, Inc., 632 So. 2d 1141 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994); Sica v. Sam Caliendo Design, Inc., 623 So. 2d 859 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993); Singer v. Star, 510 So. 2d 637 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987). Holley, on the other hand, contends that Smith’s memorandum was actually a motion to continue and was properly denied because it did not comply with the requirements of Rule 1…
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Lubarsky v. Sweden House Props. OF Boca Raton, Inc., 673 So. 2d 975 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)…udgment hearing until the deposition could be taken. We see no reason why this short continuance should not have been granted, so that the summary judgment could be determined based on all pertinent facts. See also Sica v. Sam Caliendo Design, Inc., 623 So. 2d 859 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993) (trial court erred in entering summary judgment adversely to plaintiff, where discovery by plaintiff was still in progress with defendant’s deposition pending); UFF DAA, Inc. v. Towne Realty, Inc., 666 So. 2d 199 (Fla. 5th DCA 19…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Danna v. BAY Steel Corp. & Fla. Erection Serv., Inc., 445 So. 2d 704 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984)