WILLIAM PALOV, APPELLANT,
v.
FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, A CORPORATION, APPELLEE
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William Palov appeals from a summary judgment in favor of Florida Power & Light Company in a negligence action arising from an electrical shock injury during construction work. The court reversed the summary judgment, holding that genuine issues of material fact existed regarding both the defendant's negligence and the plaintiff's contributory negligence, precluding summary disposition.
The court held that the record did not affirmatively show the absence of a genuine issue of material fact or that the defendant was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The defendant's placement of power lines outside the easement boundary, coupled with expert testimony characterizing this as a departure from sound electrical engineering practices, created a genuine issue regarding the defendant's negligence. Contributory negligence is ordinarily a jury question and did not conclusively appear as a matter of law.
“In this consideration it is necessary for the movant not only to show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, but in addition thereto that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
States the two-part test for summary judgment: no genuine issue of material fact AND entitlement to judgment as a matter of law.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePalov was a "bucket man" on a crane hoisting concrete mix during construction of residential homes. As he poured concrete on the third bucket, the cra…
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The plaintiff appeals from a summary final judgment for the defendant. The action sought damages for a personal injury. The complaint charged that the defendant negligently constructed or maintained its power lines so as to proximately cause the injuries of the plaintiff. The answer denied all the material allegations of the complaint and pleaded the affirmative defenses of contributory negligence and sole *781negligence on the plaintiff’s part. The record presented is lengthy, consisting of some 393 pages. It. includes nine affidavits and seven depositions representing the expected testimony at trial of fifteen witnesses. The appellant urges that the granting of defendant’s motion for summary judgment was error. Based upon a holding that the record does not affirmatively show there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and does not affirmatively show that the defendant is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law, the summary final judgment is reversed and the cause remanded for a trial.
The pleadings, depositions and affidavits on file reveal that the accident, with which we are here concerned, occurred during the construction of a series of one-story residences. The plaintiff was the “bucket man” on a crane, which was being used to hoist concrete mix to the top of the walls of one of the houses. His duties were to stand upon the forms at the top of the wall and guide the bucket so that the concrete mix would be poured in the proper place and amount. The plaintiff, in the performance of this job upon this project had poured about twenty houses. On all of these there had been a sufficient clearance between the power lines at the rear of the houses and the pouring operation. It appears that it was assumed by the plaintiff and his fellow workers that the clearance between the power lines and the house where the accident occurred was the same as it had been upon the house which had just been poured. This was not true. The lines were strung upon poles erected in an easement at the rear of the lots. The easement made a jog at the house where the accident occurred because of a difference in lot size. The power line involved was either 14.4 inches or 20 inches outside of the easement, (according to whether one accepts the version of defendant’s or plaintiff’s expert witness) bringing it closer to the wall under construction. The plaintiff and his fellow employee, the crane operator, failed to check the clearance. As the plaintiff was pouring the third bucket of concrete, he rounded the northwest corner of the lintel of the house, with the bucket moving in front of him, and he turned easterly. At this point the load line of the crane, to which the bucket was attached, came into contact with the power line. The plaintiff received an electrical shock and fell to the ground. .
Two questions immediately present themselves. Does the record establish that the plaintiff could not prove negligence of the defendant if a trial were had? '.Does it establish that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law? If either are answered in the affirmative, the summary judgment must be affirmed.
The appellant urges that the very size of the record demonstrates that the trial court should not have granted a summary judgment, because to decide the motion it was necessary for the trial judge to consider nine affidavits and seven depositions along with numerous photographs and an engineering sketch, or a total record of almost four hundred pages. The appellant cites Williams v. City of Lake City, Fla. 1953, 62 So.2d 732, and Saunders v. Kaplan, Fla.App.1958, 101 So.2d 181,-as authority for his argument. We do not agree that weight of the record alone bars summary judgment, although it may be true that a lengthy record increases the possibility of material conflicts in the testimony to be presented at a trial.
In Williams v. City of Lake City, supra, Mr. Justice Drew, speaking for the Court, was careful to point out that, although summary judgments should be sparingly granted so as not to infringe upon the constitutional right to a jury trial, nevertheless, where there is no genuine issue of any material fact, a summary judgment should be granted. In Saunders v. Kaplan, supra, the prudence necessary was recognized as well as the often stated protestation that the issues of negligence and contributory negligence are ordinarily for a jury’s'determination.
We turn then to the questions of whether it can be said that the record pre-*782eludes a finding of negligence or impels a finding of contributory negligence. In this consideration it is necessary for the movant not only to show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, but in addition thereto that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Farrey v. Bettendorf, Fla.1957, 96 So.2d 889.
An examination of the seven affidavits offered by the defendant in support of its motion reveals that four are of its own employees, two are of other expert witnesses and one is that of the concrete contractor. The depositions were of the plaintiff, the crane operator, the mixer truck operator, the president of the crane company, an engineer of the builder, and two partners of the company building the houses involved. It must be borne in mind that there is no opportunity to cross-examine an affidavit. This fact may have more significance where the affidavits presented are those of employees of the moving party or those whose interests are similar to the moving party’s interests. See Dulansky v. Iowa-Illinois Gas & Electric Co., 8 Cir., 1951, 191 F.2d 881.
The opposing party presented an affidavit of the plaintiff and an affidavit of an expert, who tendered his opinion that the location of the wires, being outside of the easement, constituted “a departure from sound electrical engineering practices”. The fact that the defendant had placed its wires outside of the easement boundary, coupled with the expert testimony upon the subject, created a genuine issue as to a material fact, bearing upon the alleged negligence of the defendant.
It has often been held in this State that contributory negligence is ordinarily an issue for the jury. Turner v. Modern Beauty Supply Co., 152 Fla. 3, 10 So.2d 488; Steele v. Independent Fish Co., 152 Fla. 739, 13 So.2d 14; Martin v. Stone, Fla. 1951, 51 So.2d 33; Saunders v. Kaplan, Fla.App. 1958, 101 So.2d 181; Deane v. Johnston, Fla.1958, 104 So.2d 3. The exception of course is where contributory negligence is made to appear as a matter of law from the facts which are established without issue. Fields v. Quillian, Fla.1954, 74 So.2d 230. His position on top of the wall under construction may have caused him to rely, in part, upon others for his safety. Whether this reliance, if proved, constituted contributory negligence can be better evaluated at trial. It is sufficient that we do not find that his contributory negligence conclusively appears as a matter of law.
The summary judgment appealed is reversed and the cause remanded for trial.
Reversed.
CARROLL, CHAS., C. J., and HORTON, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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Ahearn v. Fla. Power & Light Co., 129 So. 2d 457 (Fla. 2d DCA 1961)…de a sustainable verdict for plaintiffs. The district court, in reversing the directed order, concluded that there was sufficient evidence to warrant submission of the cause to the jury. See also Palov v. Florida Power & Light Company, Fla.App.1958, 107 So. 2d 780. Among the cases of other jurisdictions, embodying a variety of circumstances dealing with liability of power companies for injury or death sustained when cranes made contact with or came in too close proximity to electric wires, are those of Pike…
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Edsel Posey v. Pensacola Tractor & Equip. Co., Inc., 138 So. 2d 777 (Fla. 1st DCA 1962)…ted if there exists any controverted issue of material fact or if the proofs supporting the motion fail to overcome every theory upon which, under the pleadings, the adversary’s position might be sustained. Palov v. Florida Power & Light Co. (Fla.), 107 So. 2d 780; Buck v. Hardy (Fla.), 106 So. 2d 428; Warring v. Winn-Dixie Stores (Fla.App.), 105 So. 2d 915; Farrey v. Bettendorf (Fla.), 96 So. 2d 889; Jones v. Stoutenburgh (Fla.), 91 So. 2d 299; Manning v. Clark (Fla.), 71 So. 2d 508; 6 Moore’s Fed. Practice…
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Watley v. Fla. Power & Light Co., 192 So. 2d 27 (Fla. 1st DCA 1966)…st contends that the location of the wires, being outside of any easement and not on the right-of-way of the street constituted a departure from sound electrical engineering practices, and that under Palov v. Florida Power & Light Co., Fla.App.1959, 107 So. 2d 780, this created a genuine issue as to a material fact bearing upon the alleged negligence of the power company. Here, however, the affidavit of the appellee that the line had been maintained in its present location since 1925 was uncontroverted, so th…
Previewing 3 of 8 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Williams v. City OF Lake City, 62 So. 2d 732 (Fla. 1953)
- Farrey v. Bettendorf, 96 So. 2d 889 (Fla. 1957)
- Deane v. Miss Myrtle Johnston, 104 So. 2d 3 (Fla. 1958)
- Martin v. Stone, 51 So. 2d 33 (Fla. 1951)
- Dulansky v. Iowa-Illinois GAS & Elec. Co., 191 F.2d 881 (8th Cir. 1951)
- Saunders v. Kaplan, 101 So. 2d 181 (Fla. 3d DCA 1958)
- Turner v. Modern Beauty Supply Co., Inc., 152 Fla. 3 (Fla. 1942)
- Fields v. Quillian, 74 So. 2d 230 (Fla. 1954)
- Steele v. Indep. Fish Co., Inc., 152 Fla. 739 (Fla. 1943)
- Helton v. State, 152 Fla. 726 (Fla. 1943)