DANIEL KNIGHT AND REBECCA KNIGHT, APPELLANTS,
v.
ROBERTS RV RESORT, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1996-04-12
No. 94-03799
CAMPBELL and SCHOONOVER, JJ., concur.
671 So. 2d 298 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1996) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

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Synopsis

The Knights sued Roberts RV Resort after Daniel Knight was injured when thrown from a golf cart driven by the resort's employee, Robert Haseltine. The trial court granted summary judgment to the resort on the issues of golf cart ownership and whether Haseltine was acting within the scope of his employment, but the appellate court reversed, finding genuine issues of material fact precluding summary judgment.


Holding

Summary judgment was improper because genuine issues of material fact exist regarding golf cart ownership and Haseltine's employment status. The trial court's judgment in favor of the resort is reversed and the case is remanded for further proceedings.


Headnotes

[1] A genuine issue of material fact precludes summary judgment when evidence raises even the slightest doubt on the question of ownership or an employee's status.

[2] The beneficial ownership doctrine imposes tort liability for damages arising from the negligent operation of a dangerous instrumentality on the individual who maintains c…

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Key Quotes

“A golf cart is a dangerous instrumentality. Meister v. Fisher, 462 So.2d 1071 (Fla.1984). The beneficial ownership doctrine imposes tort liability for damages which arise from its negligent operation on the individual who maintains control over the vehicle and who receives the benefits from such control.”

Establishes the legal framework for determining liability in golf cart injury cases based on beneficial ownership and control.

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Facts & Procedural History

Daniel Knight was thrown from a golf cart driven by Robert Haseltine, an employee of Roberts RV Resort. The resort claimed Haseltine purchased the gol…

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Opinion of the Court
RYDER, Acting Chief Judge.

RYDER, Acting Chief Judge.

Daniel and Rebecca Knight’s personal injury action against Roberts RV Resort and its employee, Robert Haseltine, arose from an incident whereby Mr. Knight was thrown from a golf cart driven by Mr. Haseltine. The Knights contest the trial court’s summary final judgment in favor of Roberts RV Resort on the question of the ownership of the golf cart and whether Haseltine was acting in the course and scope of his employment at the time of the accident. Because we conclude that there is a genuine issue of material fact, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

The Resort supported its motion for summary judgment with depositions of Ha-seltine and its manager-bookkeeper, Nancy Bowen. Also, Resort documents such as handwritten and cash register receipts, payroll and tax records were annexed in support of the summary judgment motion. The appellants filed opposing affidavits.

Bowen and Haseltine testified that the golf cart was purchased from the Resort by Ha-seltine several months prior to the accident. The Knights swore by affidavit that Hasel- tine stated that the golf cart belonged to the Resort. The appellants deposed Bowen three times and cite inconsistencies in her testimony concerning the sale. Although she initially testified that no documentation supported the sale of the golf cart, she later produced a handwritten receipt taken from an infrequently used form book. Her deposition testimony also varied concerning the manner in which Haseltine paid for the golf cart. The Resort’s tax documents reflect that no golf carts were sold during the year. Moreover, the Resort supplied other golf carts at no cost to its employees on a twenty-four hour basis. On the other hand, the deposition testimony supports the inference that Haseltine was the owner of the golf cart, maintained control over it and parked it adjacent to his trader unit at the Resort. His timecard shows that he was not on duty at the time of the accident, but the Knights’ affidavits state that he was on duty twenty-four hours.

A golf cart is a dangerous instrumentality. Meister v. Fisher, 462 So. 2d 1071 (Fla.1984). The beneficial ownership doctrine imposes tort liability for damages which arise from its negligent operation on the individual who maintains control over the vehicle and who receives the benefits from such control. Palmer v. R.S. Evans, Jacksonville, Inc., 81 So. 2d 635 (Fla.1955).

As the movant, the Resort had to prove the absence of a genuine issue of material fact relative to the ownership of the golf cart and Haseltine’s employment status at the time of the accident. See Holl v. Talcott, 191 So. 2d 40 (Fla.1966). The burden is not shifted to the nonmovant to show that issues remain to be tried until the movant has successfully met this burden. 191 So. 2d at 43-44. The nonmovant’s papers should be liberally construed, as opposed to a strict reading of the movant’s papers. 191 So. 2d at 46. If the evidence raises even the slightest doubt on the question of the ownership of the cart or the employee’s status, summary judgment is impermissible. Holl.

We conclude that a genuine disputed material issue of fact precludes summary judgment, and, therefore, reverse.

Reversed and remanded for further proceedings.

CAMPBELL and SCHOONOVER, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Greenberg v. Hall, 718 So. 2d 337 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)
    …urden never shifted to the appellants to come forward with evidence in opposition to the motion and the motion should have been denied. See Carbonell v. BellSouth Telecomms., Inc., 675 So. 2d 705, 706 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996); Knight v. Roberts RV Resort, 671 So. 2d 298, 299 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996); Knight Energy Servs., Inc. v. Amoco Oil Co., 660 So. 2d 786, 788 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995); Star Lakes Estates Ass’n, Inc. v. Auerbach, 656 So. 2d 271, 274 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995); Zoda v. Hedden, 596 So. 2d 1225, 1226 (Fla. 2d DCA 199…
  • Brewer v. Gulfcoast Transit Co., Inc., 679 So. 2d 341 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996)
    …e resolved by summary judgment. Myers v. Charlotte County, 555 So. 2d 1322 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990). The discrepancy in Gulfcoast’s own proof raises a genuine issue of material fact as to the ownership of the crane. See, e.g., Knight v. Roberts RV Resort, 671 So. 2d 298 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996) (reversing summary judgment in negligence action where evidence raised “slightest doubt on question of ownership”). See generally Hervey v. Alfonso, 650 So. 2d 644 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995). After the trial court granted summary judgme…
  • Whiteaker v. Gilreath, 693 So. 2d 118 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997)
    …l to preclude at least an inference that Gilreath was the owner of the bucket loader at the time of the accident. Where there is the slightest doubt as to the question of ownership, summary judgment is impermissible. See Knight v. Roberts RV Resort, 671 So. 2d 298 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996). Reversed and remanded for further proceedings. SCHOONOVER and WHATLEY, JJ., concur.…

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