VIVIAN KAUFMAN AND OWEN KAUFMAN, APPELLANTS,
v.
ROBERT K. SCHMAHL AND DOUGLAS E. SCHMAHL, APPELLEES
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Vivian Kaufman sued theater owners after suffering a hip fracture from falling off an elevated platform near her seat. The trial court granted the owners' summary judgment based on lease provisions disclaiming liability, but the appellate court reversed, finding material factual issues regarding the owners' control over the dangerous condition that precluded summary judgment.
Summary judgment was inappropriate because material issues of fact exist as to who had control of the alleged dangerous condition, and these factual disputes cannot be resolved by the lease provisions alone. An owner's liability depends on the extent to which the owner maintains a possessory interest or control over the instrumentality or land containing the defect.
[1] A landlord's liability for injuries occurring on leased premises may depend on the extent to which the landlord maintains a possessory interest or control over the instru…
[2] A lease provision attempting to absolve a landlord from liability for injuries caused by defects in the structure or equipment of the premises may be unenforceable when m…
Previewing 2 of 3 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“the owner's liability depends "upon the extent the owner maintains a possessory interest or control over the instrumentality or land which contains a defect" causing the injuries”
Establishes the controlling legal standard for determining landlord liability in premises liability cases involving leased property.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceKaufman was seated in the front row of a theater, which sat on a platform elevated six to eight inches above the floor below. When she stood up, a per…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
KLEIN, Judge.
Appellant Vivian Kaufman was injured when she fell in a theater, breaking her hip. She sued the lessee and the owners, and the trial judge granted the owner’s motion for summary judgment. We reverse.
Appellant attended a play at the Public Theater of South Florida and was seated in the front row. That row is on a platform which is elevated six to eight inches above the floor in front of it. The seats apparently slide forward when a person sits in them, and it appears that after appellant stood up, the person seated behind her put his hand on the back of her seat causing the bottom part of the seat to move forward. The seat bottom pushed appellant off the platform, and she alleges that she fell because the drop in elevation so close to the seat was dangerous.
The lease contained the following provisions:
14. Non-Liability of Landlord: Tenant covenants that the Landlord shall not be liable for any damage or injury of the Tenant, the Tenant’s agent, or employees, or to any person entering the premises or the building of which the demised premises are a part or to goods or chattels therein resulting from any defect in the structure or its equipment, or in the structure or equipment of the structure of which the demised premises are a part, and, further to indemnify and save the Landlord harmless from all claims of every kind and nature.
17. Repairs. Landlord covenants to keep the said building in good structural repair, so far as eoncems the Tenant, except as herein otherwise provided; but no liability to the Tenant shall accrue under this covenant until after the Tenant has given reasonable notice in writing to the Landlord of the specific repairs which are so required to be made.
The owners moved for summary judgment based on the above provisions in the lease and Craig v. Gate Maritime Properties, Inc., 631 So. 2d 375 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994). In response, appellant submitted an affidavit of an expert establishing that the condition was a structural condition which violated both the building code and the building plans.
The trial court granted the owners’ motion for summary judgment, citing Craig, in which .the first district summarized Florida law pertaining to liability of owners for injuries where premises are leased to a tenant. As the court observed in Craig, the owner’s liability depends “upon the extent the owner maintains a possessory interest or control over the instrumentality or land which contains a defect” causing the injuries. Craig, 631 So. 2d at 377. The Craig court reversed a summary judgment finding that there were material issues of fact as to the owners’ control. We similarly find material issues of fact as to who had control of the alleged dangerous condition in this case, which are not resolved by the provisions in the lease. Reversed.
GUNTHER and FARMER, JJ., concur.