MARLON NEWKIRK, APPELLANT,
v.
J. W. LEBLANC AND DOROTHY LEBLANC, HIS WIFE, AND STATE FARM FIRE AND CASUALTY COMPANY, A CORPORATION, APPELLEES
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A plaintiff who fell through a defective septic tank cover on the defendants' property appeals the dismissal of his second amended complaint. The court affirms the dismissal without prejudice, finding the complaint failed to state a cause of action for a social guest but permitting the plaintiff to file an amended complaint.
The court held that the complaint was defective and failed to state a cause of action because it did not allege essential elements of liability, specifically: actual knowledge of a dangerous condition, an unreasonable known risk to the guest, or any effort to warn the guest or make the condition reasonably safe.
[1] A property owner may be liable for injuries to an invited guest if the owner fails to warn of or make reasonably safe a dangerous condition on the property.
[2] A complaint alleging a dangerous condition on property must plead essential elements to impose liability on the property owner, such as actual knowledge of the condition,…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“It appears to us that said amended complaint is defective in that it fails to allege essential elements required to impose liability on the property owner without actual knowledge of a dangerous condition existing or that there was an unreasonable known risk to the guest, or that the defendant had made any effort to warn the guest or to make the condition reasonably safe.”
Establishes the legal standard for property owner liability to social guests and the elements plaintiff's complaint must include.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant Newkirk was an invited guest on the LeBlanco's property when he fell through a septic tank cover in the yard. The complaint alleged the cove…
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This is an appeal from a final order dismissing the second amended complaint without prejudice.
The facts gleaned from the record on appeal indicates that the appellant, who was the plaintiff below, was an invited guest to come on to the property of the defendants, J. W. LeBlanc and Dorothy LeBlanc, his wife, and that while on said property the plaintiff fell through a septic tank cover in the yard. It is alleged by the complaint, that said cover did not. comply with the statutory and regulatory requirements of the State of Florida with respect to the thickness of said cover.
The trial court judge commented that the second amended complaint was defective as the prior complaint and failed to state a cause of action on behalf of a social guest.
It appears to us that said amended complaint is defective in that it fails to allege essential elements required to impose liability on the property owner without actual knowledge of a dangerous condition existing or that there was an unreasonable known risk to the guest, or that the defendant had made any effort to warn the guest or to make the condition reasonably safe.
We agree that the trial court was correct in stating that said complaint did not state a cause of action.
The trial court specifically stated that said action was dismissed without prejudice.
The trial court is properly exercising its discretion in not dismissing said action with *65prejudice, and neither does it fall within the province of the trial court to tell the plaintiff how to draw his complaint.
We agree with the trial court and inasmuch as the trial court has not precluded the plaintiff from filing a new complaint, we affirm the final decree.
WIGGINTON and RAWLS, JJ., concur.
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Newkirk v. LeBLANC, 251 So. 2d 131 (Fla. 1971)…Certiorari denied. 249 So. 2d 64. CARLTON, ADKINS, BOYD and DEKLE, JJ., concur. ROBERTS, C. J., and ERVIN, J., dissent.…