DUNLAP
v.
NEEDLE RUSH POINT OWNERS' ASSOCIATION, INC.
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.
A plaintiff in a premises liability action presents competent evidence creating a genuine issue for trial when she provides deposition testimony about the dangerous condition causing her fall, photographs of the condition taken shortly after the incident, and physical evidence (her shoe marked with the substance from the boardwalk), even if other deposition statements could be interpreted differently.
[1] In a premises liability action, a plaintiff's deposition testimony regarding the dangerous condition that caused her fall, combined with photographs of the condition take…
Previewing 1 of 1 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“a litigant's self-serving statements based on personal knowledge or observation can defeat summary judgment”
Court cited United States v. Stein, 881 F.3d 853, 857 (11th Cir. 2018) to support that plaintiff's testimony about the cause of her fall was sufficient to create a genuine issue for trial.
Jami Dunlap fell on a boardwalk owned by Needle Rush Point Owners' Association and suffered injuries. She claimed the fall was caused by rotten wood a…
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 Causation In Tort Law cases and more on FLexlaw
FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
_____________________________
No. 1D2024-2012 _____________________________
JAMI DUNLAP,
Appellant,
v.
NEEDLE RUSH POINT OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION, INC.,
Appellee. _____________________________
On appeal from the Circuit Court for Escambia County. Jan Shackelford, Judge.
December 3, 2025
PER CURIAM.
Appellant, Jami Dunlap, appeals a final summary judgment entered in favor of Appellee, Needle Rush Point Owners’ Association, Inc., in a premises liability action that Appellant filed after she fell and suffered injuries on Appellee’s property. In granting summary judgment in Appellee’s favor on the issue of causation, the trial court relied upon portions of Appellant’s deposition where she testified that her foot “gave up” and collapsed. However, not only did Appellant claim in her interrogatory responses that it was the rotten wood and green slippery moss-like substance on Appellee’s boardwalk that caused her to fall, but she also testified during her deposition that her fall was caused by the condition of the wood. She also presented
2 photographs of the boardwalk that were taken shortly after the incident, along with the shoe she wore that day that was marked with “the green substance” from the boardwalk. By doing so, Appellant presented competent evidence that showed a genuine issue for trial. See Casey v. Mistral Condo. Ass’n, Inc., 380 So. 3d 1278, 1285 (Fla. 1st DCA 2024) (explaining that where a movant for summary judgment satisfies its initial burden of identifying the portions of the record which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact, the nonmoving party, in order to overcome the summary judgment motion, must present competent evidence that shows a genuine issue for trial); see also United States v. Stein, 881 F. 3d 853, 857 (11th Cir. 2018) (“[A] litigant’s self-serving statements based on personal knowledge or observation can defeat summary judgment.”). Accordingly, we reverse the final summary judgment and remand for further proceedings. REVERSED and REMANDED. LEWIS, M.K. THOMAS, and LONG, JJ., concur.
_____________________________
Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331. _____________________________
Brian J. Lee of Morgan & Morgan, Jacksonville, for Appellant.
Michael T. Stallings of Kirkland McGhee & Gann, P.A., Pensacola, for Appellee.