WELLS FARGO GUARD SERVICES INC. OF FLORIDA, A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
LUCILLE NASH, APPELLEE
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Wells Fargo Guard Services appeals a negligence judgment for $556,000 awarded to a parking garage patron who was robbed and pistol-whipped. The court affirms liability but reverses and remands for a new trial because the verdict form failed to include the hospital as a non-party entity whose comparative fault must be determined under Florida's comparative fault statute.
Wells Fargo owed a duty of care to Nash, so the motion for directed verdict was properly denied. However, the case must be reversed and remanded for a new trial because the verdict form must include the hospital as a non-party entity and require the jury to determine the hospital's percentage of fault for non-economic damages purposes, even though the hospital was not a party to the suit.
[1] A security service provider owes a duty of care to individuals on the premises where it provides security services.
[2] A trial court properly denies a motion for directed verdict based on an alleged lack of duty when a duty is established.
Previewing 2 of 4 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“with respect to non-economic damages, section 768.81(3), Florida Statutes (Supp.1988), requires that a party's percentage of fault must be determined based on "all ... entities who contributed to the accident, regardless of whether they have been or could have been joined as defendants."”
Establishes the controlling legal standard requiring consideration of all contributing entities in comparative fault analysis for non-economic damages
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceLucille Nash was robbed and pistol-whipped in the parking garage of Methodist Hospital in Jacksonville on January 7, 1992. Wells Fargo Guard Services …
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LAWRENCE, Judge.
We have for review a judgment awarding damages based on the negligence of Wells Fargo Guard Services, Incorporated (Wells Fargo) in its undertaking to provide security services on the premises of a parking garage. We reverse.
Lucille Nash (Nash) was robbed and pistol-whipped in the parking garage of Methodist Hospital in Jacksonville, on January 7, 1992. Wells Fargo supplied security services pursuant to a contract with the hospital. The jury returned a verdict for Nash in the amount of $556,000; the verdict included non-economic damages of $365,000.
The trial judge denied Fargo’s reserved motion for directed verdict, which was based on an alleged lack of duty to Nash. We agree that Wells Fargo owed a duty to Nash, and that the motion for directed verdict was properly denied. See Kowkabany v. Home Depot, Inc., 606 So. 2d 716 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 324A & cmt. c (1964).
We must reverse however, based on the verdict form used at the trial. Wells Fargo moved to include the hospital on the verdict form, despite that Nash had not sued the hospital. Wells Fargo based its motion on Messmer v. Teacher’s Ins. Co., 588 So. 2d 610 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991), review denied, 598 So. 2d 77 (Fla.1992), then pending for review before the Florida Supreme Court based on conflict with Fabre v. Marin, 597 So. 2d 883 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992). The trial judge denied Wells Fargo’s motion, relying on the third district’s disposition of the issue in Fabre.
The supreme court, in its conflict review of the two cases, quashed the third district’s Fabre decision, and approved the fifth district’s Messmer decision. Fabre v. Marin, 623 So. 2d 1182 (Fla.1993). The supreme court held that, with respect to non-economic damages, section 768.81(3), Florida Statutes (Supp.1988),1 requires that a party’s percentage of fault must be determined based on “all ... entities who contributed to the accident, regardless of whether they have been or could have been joined as defendants.” Fabre, 623 So. 2d at 1185; see also Allied-Signal, Inc. v. Fox, 623 So. 2d 1180 (Fla.1993) (holding that, with respect to non-economic damages, section 768.81(3) requires that an employer’s comparative fault must be considered by the jury in a negligence suit by an employee against a manufacturer, even though the employer is immune from liability under the workers’ compensation law).
We therefore must reverse and remand for a new trial incorporating a proper verdict form.
It is so ordered.
JOANOS and BENTON, JJ., concur. . The statute in the instant case is the same as the one examined by the supreme court in Fabre. Ch. 91-110, § 38, Laws of Fla.
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Nash v. Wells Fargo Guard Servs., Inc., 678 So. 2d 1262 (Fla. 1996)…GRIMES, Justice. We review Wells Fargo Guard Services, Inc. v. Nash, 654 So. 2d 155 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995), which directly and expressly conflicts with Schindler Elevator Corp. v. Viera, 644 So. 2d 563, 564 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994); American Aerial Lift, Inc. v. Perez, 629 So. 2d 169, 172 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993), review denied, 659 So. 2d 1085 (…
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Burns Int'l Sec. Servs. Inc. OF Fla. v. Philadelphia Indem. Ins. Co., 899 So. 2d 361 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)…c. 8, 2004) (estate of non-resident of condominium, who died as a result of shooting at condominium development, brought action against three defendants, including the entity which provided security); Wells Fargo Guard Servs., Inc., of Fla. v. Nash, 654 So. 2d 155 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995) (victim of attack in parking garage of hospital sued entity which provided security services pursuant to a contract with the hospital), quashed by 678 So. 2d 1262 (Fla.1996); Williams v. Office of Sec. & Intelligence, Inc., 509 S…
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Alexandro Quevedo v. Metro Cnty. Protective Serv. & Special Training, Inc., 720 So. 2d 1174 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)…below is reversed because of the existence of numerous jury issues as to the liability of the defendant-appellee security agency for the murder of a tenant of the apartment complex it was hired to protect. See Wells Fargo Guard Servs., Inc. v. Nash, 654 So. 2d 155 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995), rev’d on other grounds, 678 So. 2d 1262 (Fla.1996); Phillips v. Parkside of Fountainbleau Condominium Ass’n, Inc., 634 So. 2d 1101 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994); Williams v. Office of Sec. & Intelligence, Inc., 509 So. 2d 1282 (Fla. 3d DCA…
Authorities Cited
- Fabre v. Marin, 623 So. 2d 1182 (Fla. 1993)
- Kowkabany v. The Home Depot, Inc., 606 So. 2d 716 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)
- Alcides Castro v. State, 597 So. 2d 883 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)
- Messmer v. Teacher's Ins. Co., 588 So. 2d 610 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991)
- Allied-Signal, Inc. v. FOX, 623 So. 2d 1180 (Fla. 1993)