VIOLA H. HOLMES AND L. W. HOLMES, HER HUSBAND, APPELLANTS,
v.
FORTY-FIVE TWENTY-FIVE, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, BEACH CONCESSIONS, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, AND NATIONAL SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION, INC., A FOREIGN CORPORATION, JOINTLY AND SEVERALLY, APPELLEES

Fla. 3d DCA | 1961-10-19
No. 61-25
Before HORTON, BARKDULL and HENDRY, JJ.
133 So. 2d 651 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1961) Positive Treatment
Cited by 36 cases

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Synopsis

Viola Holmes was injured when she fell on steps in the basement/garage area of the Eden Roc Hotel while registering for a convention. The trial court granted summary judgment for all defendants, but the appellate court reversed, finding genuine issues of material fact remained regarding the defendants' duty, breach, and the plaintiff's contributory negligence that should be decided by a jury.


Holding

The court reversed the summary judgments, holding that genuine issues of material fact existed that should be submitted to a jury, specifically: (1) whether the defendants owed a duty to the plaintiff; (2) whether they breached that duty by failing to provide a reasonably safe registration area or warn of the danger; and (3) whether the plaintiff was contributorily negligent.


Key Quotes

“Under the summary judgment procedure, it is the function of the court to determine whether there exist any genuine issues of material fact and not to decide such issues.”

Establishes the proper standard for summary judgment review—courts must not resolve factual disputes but only determine whether they exist.

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Facts & Procedural History

Viola Holmes, a paying guest at the Eden Roc Hotel, went to the basement/garage area to register as a delegate to a National School Boards Association…

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Opinion of the Court
HORTON, Judge.

HORTON, Judge.

The appellants, who were the plaintiffs in a tort action, appeal from adverse summary final judgments. The action grew out of injuries which the appellant Viola Holmes suffered when she fell in the area known as the basement and garage of the Eden Roc Hotel.

The hotel is owned by the Forty-five Twenty-five, Inc., which leases the basement and garage area to the Beach Concessions, Inc. Beach concessions sublet the area to the National School Boards Association for use as a registration and exhibition area during its convention. Viola Holmes was a paying guest in the hotel and had gone to the basement and garage to register as a delegate to the convention. While she was in one of several lines moving forward to the registration desk, she fell down some steps near the entrance to the garage.

Appellants brought suit, joining Forty-five Twenty-five, Inc., Beach Concessions and National School Boards as defendants. The complaint alleged, inter alia, that the area where Mrs. Holmes fell was under the care, control and possession of each of the defendants, or, in the alternative, under their joint care, control or possession, and the injuries suffered by her were caused solely and proximately by each of the defendants, or in the alternative, by their joint and concurrent negligence. The defend*652ants filed separate answers. Forty-five Twenty-five, Inc., admitted ownership of the hotel and denied all else. Beach Concessions and National School Boards answered in the nature of a general denial. All defendants alleged as a matter of affirmative defense that Mrs. Holmes had been guilty of contributory negligence.

The defendants individually moved for summary judgment. The trial court had before it at the hearing on these motions the pleadings, the interrogatories to and answers from Mrs. Holmes, and certain depositions. The court granted summary judgments in favor of each defendant and this appeal followed.

The determinative question here is whether the trial court erred in concluding there existed no genuine issues of material fact. We find that it did.

Under the summary judgment procedure, it is the function of the court to determine whether there exist any genuine issues of material fact and not to decide such issues. Buck v. Hardy, Fla.App.1958, 106 So.2d 428. In Drahota v. Taylor Construction Co., Fla.1956, 89 So.2d 16, 18, the Supreme Court of Florida said:

“The constitutional right to jury trial demands that particular care be accorded in this field, to the end that controverted issues of fact be resolved not upon pleadings and depositions but by a jury functioning under proper instructions.”

Negligence cases are extremely troublesome due to the varied fact situations which they present. It has been held that where the case is extremely close on the question of negligence or contributory negligence, “doubt * * * should always be resolved in favor of a jury trial.” Bess v. 17545 Collins Ave., Inc., Fla.1957, 98 So.2d 490, 492.

From the record, it would appear that in the instant case there are genuine issues of material fact which should have been submitted to a jury, i. e., (1) did the defendants or any of them owe a duty to the plaintiffs? (2) if so, did the defendants or any of them breach that duty by failing to provide a reasonably safe place to register or under the circumstances to warn plaintiff of the danger of falling? (3) was plaintiff guilty of contributory negligence in failing to observe the condition which caused her fall ?

Reversed and remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent herewith.


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Citator

Cited By (18 total)

  • Beikirch v. City OF Jacksonville Beach, 159 So. 2d 898 (Fla. 1st DCA 1964)
    …ional Airlines v. Florida Equipment Co., Fla., 71 So. 2d 741. * * *" After quoting the second sentence in the above quotation from the Drahota case, the District Court of Appeal, Third District of Florida, in Holmes v. Forty-Five Twenty-Five, Inc., 133 So. 2d 651 (1961), related that rule to negligence actions as follows: “* * * Negligence cases are extremely troublesome due to the varied fact situations which they present. It has been held that where the case is extremely close on the question of negligenc…
  • Stewart v. Boho, Inc., 493 So. 2d 95 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986)
    …the case is extremely close on the question of negligence ... doubt ... should always be resolved in favor of a jury trial.” Byrnes v. Publix Supermarkets, 272 So. 2d 218, 219 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973), quoting from Holmes v. Forty-Five Twenty-Five, Inc., 133 So. 2d 651, 652 (Fla. 3d DCA 1961). With specific reference to the issue of the reasonable forseeability of Stewart’s injuries, Florida law embodies a strong preference for the resolution of forseeability issues in negligence cases by a jury. See, e.g., Gibso…
  • Quinn v. I. C. Helmly Furniture Co., Inc., 141 So. 2d 302 (Fla. 3d DCA 1962)
    …the summary judgment procedure is to determine whether there exist any genuine issues of material fact, not to decide such issues. Foster v. Gulfstream Press, Inc., Fla.App.1961, 134 So. 2d 270; Holmes v. Forty-Five Twenty-Five, Inc., Fla.App. 1961, 133 So. 2d 651; Buck v. Hardy, Fla.App.1958, 106 So. 2d 428. In Buck v. Hardy, supra, this court said: “[Ijssues of negligence, including such related issues as contributory negligence, are ordinarily not susceptible of summary adjudication either for or against…

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