GOLDEN SHORELINE LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, APPELLANT,
v.
MARY JO MCGOWAN AND JOHN MCGOWAN, III; MARGARET ZAMORA; JANET BURKE AND RICHARD BURKE; MILLAR ELEVATOR SERVICE COMPANY; AND JUSTICE CORPORATION, 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.
The court held that the statute at issue establishes negligence per se, not strict liability, and factual disputes preclude summary judgment on liability.
[1] A violation of Florida Statute section 399.02(5)(b) constitutes negligence per se, but does not impose strict liability on the elevator owner.
[2] To establish negligence per se for a violation of Florida Statute section 399.02(5)(b), plaintiffs must prove they belong to the class the statute intends to protect, suf…
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 intelligencePlaintiffs were injured when an elevator dropped past their intended floor, striking bottom. The elevator had a history of malfunctions and recent ser…
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.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Duty To Maintain cases and more on FLexlaw
CASANUEVA, Acting Chief Judge.
Golden Shoreline Limited Partnership appeals a partial summary judgment holding it liable to Mr. and Mrs. McGowan and their co-plaintiffs based upon an alleged violation of section 399.02(5)(b), Florida Statutes (1993). We hold that partial final summary judgment was improperly entered and reverse.
On February 3,1994, Mary Jo McGowan and seven of her co-workers boarded an elevator at the fourth floor of their office building, intending to descend to the ground floor. Unfortunately, however, the elevator dropped past that floor, struck bottom, and rebounded to the third floor. This accident was apparently not an isolated incident. The building’s elevators reflected a history of recent malfunctions. Within the three days preceding the accident, the service company was called to address problems six times. The day before the accident, the elevator stuck between floors and trapped people inside. On the day of the accident three service calls were made, including one just hours prior to the incident.
Mrs. McGowan and others sued Golden Shoreline, the owner and operator of the elevator, for damages for personal injuries. Mr. McGowan joined the action and claimed damages from loss of consortium. In addition, the maintenance problems prompted the plaintiffs to sue Millar Elevator Service Company, which serviced the elevators, and the Justice Corporation, the building’s property manager. In its answer Golden Shoreline denied the allegations and asserted a number of affirmative defenses, one of which was that the plaintiffs’ injuries resulted from Millar’s negligence.
The trial court held, in granting Mr. and Mrs. McGowan a partial summary judgment on liability, that section 399.02(5)(b) made Golden Shoreline strictly liable as well as negligent per se. That statute provided: “The elevator owner shall be responsible for the safe operation and proper maintenance of the elevator after it has been inspected and a certificate of operation has been issued by the division.1 The responsibilities of the elevator owner may be assigned by lease.”
This statute undoubtedly imposed a duty upon Golden Shoreline, but the law recognizes two different types of negligence per se. The first involves statutes that impose strict liability upon its violators, usually in those circumstances where the statute is designed to protect a particular class of persons from their inability to protect themselves. The second type of negligence per se results from the violation of a statute that seeks to protect a particular class of persons from a particular injury by establishing the duty to take precautions to avoid that injury. deJesus v. Seaboard Coast Line R. Co., 281 So. 2d 198 (Fla.1973).
We conclude that section 399.02(5)(b) established this second type of duty — to protect those using elevators from injury resulting from poor maintenance of the elevator. In reviewing whether a violation of the precursor statute to section 399.02(5)(b) would require a negligence per se instruction, the Fourth District held:
Elevators are commonplace. Indeed, in many buildings they provide the only reasonable mode of conveyance. Yet the passengers — the class of individuals for whom the statute was enacted — have no say in questions of maintenance, repair and other safety precautions. Thus, the task of making elevators safe necessarily falls upon the owner or agent who is in a position to undertake proper maintenance. The proper execution of this duty is of paramount importance. Consequently, it is consistent with the body of law cited above to hold that a violation of this statute constitutes negligence per se.
Reliance Elec. Co. v. Humphrey, 427 So. 2d 214, 214-15 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983).
We, too, conclude that a violation of section 399.02(5)(b) constitutes negligence per se but not of the type that imposes strict liability. The mere fact that the elevator fell does not, of itself, establish negligence on the part of Golden Shoreline. Szilagyi v. North Florida Hotel Corp., 610 So. 2d 1319 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992). In the first place, the plaintiffs must establish that Golden Shoreline actually violated the statute. See id. at 1321. Furthermore, as pointed out by the deJe-sus court, it would also remain for the plaintiffs to prove that they were “of the class the statute was intended to protect, that [they] suffered injury of the type the statute was designed to prevent, and that the violation of the statute was the proximate cause of [their] injury.” 281 So. 2d at 201.
Our examination of the record establishes that whether Golden Shoreline breached either of its statutory duties to operate the elevator safely and to maintain it properly is open to factual dispute. Under these circumstances, a summary judgment on liability was inappropriate.
Reversed and remanded.
SALCINES and STRINGER, JJ., concur. . Section 399.01(4), Florida Statutes (1993) defines Division to mean the Division of Hotels and Restaurants of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Smith v. Fla. Power & Light Co., 857 So. 2d 224 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)…ch the plaintiff has suffered, then the defendant’s violation of that statute, ordinance or regulation will be considered per se negligence. deJesus v. Seaboard Coast Line R.R. Co., 281 So. 2d 198 (Fla.1973); Golden Shoreline Ltd. P’ship v. McGowan, 787 So. 2d 109 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001); Concord Fla., Inc. v. Lewin, 341 So. 2d 242 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976). If a safety code is applicable to the particular conduct of a power company and a violation of that code is asserted as the basis for imposing liability, the court w…
-
Abril v. Dep't OF Corr., 884 So. 2d 206 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)…; Lewis v. City of Miami, 127 Fla. 426, 173 So. 150, 152 (1937) (citing Restatement (First) of Torts section 286 (1934) statement of circumstances where violation of statutory duty will give rise to tort liability); Golden Shoreline Ltd. v. McGowan, 787 So. 2d 109 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) (discussing types of negligence per se that may arise from statutory violation); Newsome v. Haffher, 710 So. 2d 184, 186 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998) (stating that “a cause of action in negligence per se is created when a penal statute is…
-
Vitrano v. Fla. Power & Light Co., 190 So. 3d 89 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)…e elevator) from particular injuries (those which occur when the elevator malfunctions or falls). See Reliance Elec. Co., Haughton Elevator Div. v. Humphrey, 427 So. 2d 214, 214-15 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); accord Golden Shoreline Ltd. P’ship v. McGowan, 787 So. 2d 109, 111 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001). Here the NESC provisions were not directed to a particular category of persons. We therefore conclude that the trial court did not err in refusing to instruct the jury that violation of these statutes was negligence per se.…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- In re Transition Rule 15, 281 So. 2d 198 (Fla. 1973)
- Reliance Elec. Co. v. Humphrey, 427 So. 2d 214 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983)
- Szilagyi v. N. Fla. Hotel Corp., 610 So. 2d 1319 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)