Judith Prince Versus Rouse's Enterprises, L.L.C. D/B/A Rouses Markets ( 2020 )

JUDITH PRINCE NO. 20-CA-150
VERSUS FIFTH CIRCUIT
ROUSE'S ENTERPRISES, L.L.C. D/B/A COURT OF APPEAL
ROUSES MARKETS
STATE OF LOUISIANA
ON APPEAL FROM THE TWENTY-FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT
PARISH OF JEFFERSON, STATE OF LOUISIANA
NO. 777-221, DIVISION "A"
HONORABLE RAYMOND S. STEIB, JR., JUDGE PRESIDING
December 02, 2020
JOHN J. MOLAISON, JR.
JUDGE
Panel composed of Judges Robert A. Chaisson,
Hans J. Liljeberg, and John J. Molaison, Jr.
REVERSED AND REMANDED
JJM
RAC
HJL
COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT,
JUDITH PRINCE
Matthew A. Sherman
Patrick R. Follette
COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLEE,
ROUSES ENTERPRISES, LLC D/B/A AIRLINE MANHATTAN INVESTORS,
LLC, AND VICTORY REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS, LLC
John E. Unsworth, III
MOLAISON, J.
Appellant, Judith Prince, seeks review of the trial court’s granting of
summary judgment in favor of Appellees, Rouse’s Enterprises, L.L.C. d/b/a
Rouses Markets, Airline Manhattan Investors, L.L.C., and Victory Real Estate
Investments, L.L.C. The trial court granted Appellees’ motion for summary
judgment dismissing Appellant’s personal injury petition with prejudice. As we
find that there are genuine issues of material fact, we reverse the decision of the
trial court.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On May 30, 2017, Appellant, Judith Prince, stumbled and fell in the parking
lot at 2701 Airline Drive, Metairie, Louisiana, while walking in the crosswalk
toward the store of Appellee, Rouse’s Enterprises, L.L.C. d/b/a/ Rouses Markets
(“Rouse’s”). She was wearing flip-flops at the time of the incident. Appellant fell
on her left arm, hip, and side, resulting in a bleeding wound on her left forearm and
a broken left arm which required months of physical therapy. Appellant filed a
petition for damages on October 26, 2017 alleging that a pothole in the crosswalk
created an unreasonably dangerous condition which caused her to trip, fall, and
sustain serious injuries. She also stated the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur applied in
this case. On the same date, Appellant’s counsel demanded the preservation of the
evidence related to “pot holes” or other dangerous conditions in the cross-walk in a
spoliation letter sent to Rouse’s. An employee of Appellee, Victory Real Estate
Investments, L.L.C. (“Victory”), requested the repair and measurement of the
condition on November 20, 2017. In January of 2018, Property Services of
Louisiana, L.L.C., installed rapid set mortar mix within two holes and leveled out
two sections of concrete in Rouse’s parking lot.
20-CA-150 1
On January 29, 2018, Rouse’s filed an answer to Appellant’s petition,
affirmative defenses, request for trial by jury, and a third party demand on
Appellees, Airline Manhattan Investors, L.L.C., as the owners and lessors of the
property, and Victory, as the parties with garde, control and custody, responsible
for the maintenance and care of the parking lot.1 2 All Appellees are currently
jointly represented. On August 29, 2019, Rouse’s supplemented its discovery
responses with photographs alleged to reveal the height of the defect at issue.
On October 17, 2019, Appellees filed a motion for summary judgment.
Appellees asserted that they were entitled to judgment as a matter of law because
Appellant cannot satisfy her burden. Appellant filed an opposition to the motion
for summary judgment on December 30, 2019.3 A hearing on the motion for
summary judgment was held on January 15, 2020. After the hearing, the trial
judge found in favor of Appellees. A written judgment with reasons was entered
on January 17, 2020, granting the motion for summary judgment and dismissing
Appellant’s claims. Appellant filed a timely appeal.
DISCUSSION
Appellant alleges four assignments of error. The first is that the Trial Court
erred in granting the motion for summary judgment given that the facts clearly
show that material issues of fact exist concerning the condition of Appellees’
property and whether said condition amounted to an unreasonably dangerous
condition. As we find merit to this assignment, we will not discuss the additional
errors alleged.4
1
The trial court dismissed Rouse’s claims against Airline Manhattan Investors, L.L.C. upon Rouse’s
motion on May 25, 2018.
2
Appellant amended her petition on May 18, 2018 to add Appellees, Airline Manhattan Investors, L.L.C.
and Victory Real Estate Investments, L.L.C. as defendants.
3
Appellees filed a reply brief on January 7, 2020.
4
Appellant also alleges: 2) The trial court erred in granting the Motion for Summary Judgment by
weighing conflicting evidence regarding material facts; 3) The trial court erred in granting the Motion for
Summary Judgment while discovery was ongoing and depositions of Appellees’ witnesses were needed
prior to a ruling; and 4) The trial court erred in granting the Motion for Summary Judgment because res
ipsa loquitur is applicable in this matter.
20-CA-150 2
A motion for summary judgment is properly granted if the motion,
memorandum, and supporting documents show that there is no genuine issue as to
material fact and that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. La.
C.C.P. art. 966(A)(3). Factual inferences reasonably drawn from the evidence
must be construed in favor of the party opposing a motion for summary judgment,
and all doubt must be resolved in the opponent's favor. Willis v. Medders, 00-2507
(La. 12/8/00), 775 So.2d 1049, 1050 (per curiam). In determining whether
summary judgment is appropriate, appellate courts review evidence de novo under
the same criteria that govern the trial court's determination of whether summary
judgment is appropriate. Samaha v. Rau, 07-1726 (La. 2/26/08), 977 So.2d 880.
In a motion for summary judgment, the burden of proof is on the mover.
Nevertheless, if the mover will not bear the burden of proof at trial on the issue that
is before the court on the motion for summary judgment, the mover's burden on the
motion does not require him to negate all essential elements of the adverse party's
claim, action, or defense, but rather to point out to the court the absence of factual
support for one or more elements essential to the adverse party's claim, action, or
defense. La. C.C.P. art. 966(D)(1). The burden is on the adverse party to produce
factual support sufficient to establish the existence of a genuine issue of material
fact or that the mover is not entitled to judgment as a matter of law. La. C.C.P. art.
966(D)(1).
In ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the court's role is not to
evaluate the weight of the evidence or to determine the truth of the matter but
instead to determine whether there is a genuine issue of triable fact. A “genuine
issue” is one upon which reasonable persons could disagree. Smith v. Our Lady of
the Lake Hosp., Inc., 93-2512 (La. 7/5/94), 639 So.2d 730. If, based on the
evidence, reasonable persons could only reach one conclusion, the issue is not
genuine. In determining whether an issue is genuine, the courts cannot make
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credibility determinations, consider the merits, evaluate testimony, or weigh
evidence. Id. Further, a fact is “material” when it would matter on the trial on the
merits; i.e., it could insure or preclude recovery, affect the litigant’s ultimate
success, or determine the outcome of the legal dispute. Id.An owner or custodian, under La C.C. art 2317.1, and a lessor under La.
C.C. art. 2696, are responsible for damage caused by the “ruin, vice, or defect” of
things within their custody “only upon a showing that he knew or, in the exercise
of reasonable care, should have known of the ruin, vice, or defect which caused the
damage, that the damage could have been prevented by the exercise of reasonable
care, and that he failed to exercise such reasonable care.” Thus, in cases of
premises liability, the plaintiff must prove that the thing was in the defendant’s
custody, that the thing contained a defect which presented an unreasonable risk of
harm to others, that this defective condition caused the damage, and that the
defendant knew or should have known of the defect. Taylor v. Chipotle Mexican
Grill, Inc., 18-238 (La. App. 5 Cir. 12/27/18), 263 So.3d 910, 914.
In this case, Appellees’ Motion for Summary Judgment argued that
Appellant could not meet her burden of proving an unreasonable risk of harm
caused her injuries, as the cracks in its parking lot did not pose an unreasonable
risk of harm. They claimed that the alleged defect is less than one inch and that the
area is open and obvious and within the yellow “stripped” [sic] area along a
concrete joint in a high trafficked area. They also alleged that Appellant could not
prove that defendant had notice of an unreasonable risk of harm. Appellees also
allege that res ipsa loquitur was not applicable to the present case because injuries
of this kind do not lead to an inference that the parking lot owner was negligent.
Appellees’ claim rests on their allegation that Appellant cannot prove the element
of unreasonable risk because Appellant tripped on an expansion joint which
measured less than a one-inch variance between concrete blocks which Louisiana
20-CA-150 4
courts have consistently found to be a minor deviation which does not rise to the
level of an unreasonably dangerous condition.
In opposition, Appellant argues that she fell on a “pothole” which was next
to the expansion joint. Appellant disagreed with Appellees’ undisputed facts, “10.
Plaintiff testified she fell on a (concrete) joint” and “11. Plaintiff testified she fell
in the middle where the concrete is raised a bit.” In support of her opposition,
Appellant offered her own affidavit; an affidavit of her expert and his report;
Appellees’ responses to her requests for productions of documents, including
photographs; a complete copy of her deposition with exhibits; an affidavit of her
attorney; a copy of the petition; and Appellees’ response to her interrogatories.
Appellees had the initial burden of showing that Appellant could not prove
that the condition presented an unreasonable risk of harm. Appellees relied on
jurisprudence, Appellant’s deposition testimony, and the photographs attached as
exhibits to the deposition. Although their motion claims that case law establishes
that a deviation of less than two inches is reasonably safe, they failed to introduce
evidence of the size of the deviation in question. Appellees did not present any
evidence towards Appellant not being able to meet the other factor of the utility or
risk, such as the history of the parking lot or the costs of repairing all similar
defects in the parking lot (or crosswalk).
A full copy of Appellant’s January 8, 2019 deposition indicates that while
she answered a question that she fell on the joint, she also refers to the location of
her fall as “this area by the joint.” Appellant included an affidavit, to which
Appellees did not object, in which she clarifies that after her fall, she saw the
pothole that had caused her fall. She states that she stepped into the pothole and
felt her foot go down. The photographs attached to the deposition did not have any
indication of scale or a foundation of who took the photographs, at what time, or
20-CA-150 5
under what circumstances.5 The photographs introduced by Appellant as those
received from Appellees through her requests for production on August 29, 2019,
seven months after Appellant’s deposition, show more detailed photographs of the
area that Appellant had identified as where she fell in her deposition. Included in
these photos are several photographs with a ruler. Appellant asserted that the
Appellees failed to place the ruler in the actual pothole.
Appellant introduced the report of her expert, Nicholas S. Musso, AIA, a
licensed architect, in which he relied on the petition, deposition of Appellant, and
photographs. He refers to the condition observed as a “damaged concrete area,”
which he found to constitute an unreasonable risk of harm or danger due to there
being no uniform walking surface in the designated walkway, at the main entry of
the store without a notification of the nonconformity required by the ADA
Guidelines and the Life Safety Code. Mr. Musso states it would be in violation of
American Society for Testing and Materials Standards F-1637-02 5.7.1.2 due to a
substandard walkway condition where the pavement is broken, depressed, or
cracked. His report also opines that the owner/operator should have been aware of
this condition as it took time to develop and is located in a designated walkway at
the main entry of the store.
After a de novo review of the evidence, this Court finds that based on the
record presented, Appellees are not entitled to summary judgment as a matter of
law. Drawing all inferences in favor of Appellant and refraining from making any
credibility determinations, the evidence shows there are contested material facts.
The size of the defect is disputed and inconclusive to whether it poses an
unreasonable risk of harm without a balance of risk and utility. Furthermore, there
is a dispute as to whether Appellant tripped on the expansion joints or in a hole (or
5
Also, while references are made to Appellant circling the spot where the incident occurred in her
deposition, the record does not contain marked photographs for Ex. C, D, & E.
20-CA-150 6
crack) in the concrete near the expansion joints which is necessary to the balancing
of utility and risk.
The Louisiana Supreme Court has addressed the issue of the
unreasonableness of conditions of a sidewalk and parking lot in the two frequently
cites cases of Reed v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and Boyle v. Board of Supervisors,
Louisiana State University. In these cases, the court found no duty to eliminate all
variations in elevations existing along the countless cracks, seams, joints, and
curbs, but only those defects which present an unreasonable risk of harm.6 Many
factors should be considered and weighed in determining if a risk is unreasonable,
including the claims and interests of the parties, the probability of the risk
occurring, the gravity of the consequences, the burden of adequate precautions,
individual and societal rights and obligations, and the social utility involved.
Dupree v. City of New Orleans, 99-3651 (La. 8/31/00), 765 So.2d 1002, 1012.
Louisiana courts, usually in a review of facts developed after a trial on the merits,
in making a determination of unreasonable risk have considered the size of the
defect, the number of years it has existed, its location, whether it was readily
observable, and the accident history of the defect. See Reed, 708 So.2d at 365-66;
Chambers v. Village of Moreauville, 11-898 (La. 1/24/12) 85 So.3d 593, 601.
Although Louisiana courts frequently have found that height deviations less
than two inches between the concrete plates at a joint are not unreasonable, a hole
(or crack in the plate), does not have the same social utility as an expansion joint,
which is an integral part of a sidewalk. Leaman v. Continental Cas. Co., 00-292
(La. App. 4 Cir. 9/26/01), 798 So.2d 285, 292. In the Reed case, the Louisiana
6
In Boyle, the Supreme Court found no unreasonable risk of harm existed considering the risk caused by
the ½ - one-inch depression between sidewalk slabs, the small risk of injury due to several years of heavy
traffic without reported injury, and the social utility including the costs to repair all defects in the 25 miles
of sidewalks located at the university. Boyle v. Board of Supervisors, Louisiana State University, 96-
1158 (La. 1/14/97), 685 So.2d 1080. In Reed, the Supreme Court found no unreasonable risk of harm
considering the negligible size of the defect, absence of previous accidents, the utility of the expansion
joint, and the prohibitive cost of repair. Reed v. Wal-mart Stores, Inc., 97-1174 (La. 3/4/98), 708 So.2d
362.
20-CA-150 7
Supreme Court found utility in expansion joints as necessary for the safety and
maintenance of concrete, because the joints allow the concrete in the larger paved
surfaces to expand and contract without pressing against each other causing
“cracking, shifting and buckling which would produce far more hazardous
deviations than the minor ¼ to ½ inch variation at issue here.” Reed, 708 So.2d at
366. In Johnson v. Brookshire Grocery Co., Inc., 32,770 (La. App. 2 Cir. 3/1/00),
754 So.2d 346, writ denied, 00-0938 (La. 5/26/00), 762 So.2d 1107, the appellate
court affirmed the trial court’s determination that a hole, of indeterminate size, in
the crosswalk constituted an unreasonable risk of harm.7 While the plaintiff
estimated the hole as three to four inches deep and her daughter estimated the hole
as three to six inches deep, the defendant's maintenance man estimated that the
crack or deviation was about one inch deep by eight or twelve inches wide. Id. at
350. The Second Circuit distinguished the small sunken area which extended in
width to the length of a person’s foot as unlike the relatively small expansion joint
cracks addressed in the Boyle and Reed cases, in finding it to be an obstacle which
could cause serious injury. Id.
Although the trial judge found there was no question of fact that the case
involved a fall involving the “area where expansion joints of four separate slabs
meet” and the deviation between the slabs was less than one inch, we are unable to
make these findings based on the record before us. We do not find that the
photographs conclusively establish the size of the defect. In particular, the several
photographs of a ruler placed on one concrete slab, which appears to measure the
.75 inch deviation of the joints at the raised portion of the adjacent slab, indicate
that there is a deeper hole in the same area that was not measured. Appellant
argued in her opposition that the ruler was placed on the joint next to the actual
7
The Second Circuit also affirmed on the basis that the trial court made a credibility finding of the
testimony of Johnson and her daughter in determining that the hole in the crosswalk presented an
unreasonable risk of harm to Johnson, as well as to other customers. Johnson, 762 So.2d at 351.
20-CA-150 8
hole. Without Appellees establishing that Appellant fell on the slab deviation or
providing the measurement of the hole, the Appellant should not be required to
produce evidence of the size of the hole to defeat a motion for summary judgment.
Appellees repaired the hole without taking appropriate measurements or giving
notice to Appellant. Additionally, as demonstrated by Johnson, supra, recovery is
not barred when exact measurements of the defect are unavailable.
Furthermore, size is not the only issue related to whether a defect is an
unreasonable risk. The mere small size of a deviation is not dispositive with
respect to the harm, but merely one factor for a court in “a myriad of
considerations. . .which requires a balancing of the risk and utility of the
condition.” Reed, 108 So.2d at 364. Appellees’ motion focused on the
conclusiveness of the size without submitting evidence as to the risk of injury,
social utility, and cost of repair, the other factors in the risk-utility balancing test.
Boyle, 685 So.2d at 1083. Another important factor is the location of the defect.
Reed, 108 So.2d at 363. In this case, the defect is located in the crosswalk, in front
of the store, where patrons are directed to cross the roadway to the store’s entrance.
As the Appellant’s expert notes in his report, the defect in the walking surface is
located in a designated path to and from the parking area. The location in the
crosswalk is a factor in the risk-utility analysis as the cost of repairing the concrete
in areas where customers are encouraged to cross is different than the cost in
maintaining the concrete in the entire parking lot.
The location also raises an issue as to whether the defect was an open and
obvious condition. While Appellees imply that the yellow stripes of the crosswalk
should make the defect more noticeable, this argument ignores the purpose of a
crosswalk as a designated walkway. In Johnson v. Brookshire Grocery Co., Inc.,
the court noted that while normally a patron should be on the lookout for irregular
surfaces in a parking lot, in the crossway, one’s focus should be for oncoming
20-CA-150 9
vehicles. 754 So.2d at 351 (The Court stated the sunken area was in the crossing
lane where one’s peripheral vision toward the surface would pick up the yellow
markings as an assurance of an appropriate walkway area). While Appellees assert
that the photographs show the cracks in the lot were open and obvious, we find this
is an issue on which reasonable persons could disagree as the analysis of whether a
defect is an open and obvious condition is a factual determination which is often
not properly resolved by summary judgment. Graupmann v. Nunamaker Family
Ltd. Partnership, 13-580 (La. App. 1 Cir. 12/16/13), 136 So.3d 863, 870-71.
We also find that the decision of whether Appellant fell due to a hole or a
raised joint is a question of fact more properly left to a trial on the merits.
Appellant seems to consistently claim that the unreasonable condition in the
crosswalk was the hole in the pavement by the joint: her complaint states that her
foot “fell” into the hole and her affidavit references the hole.8 When the trial judge
stated that “call[ing] it a pothole is a little exaggerated,” counsel for Appellant
stated he would change his terminology to “cracks in the concrete” or “cracked
concrete which created a hole.”9 The affidavit of Appellant’s counsel and
Appellees’ responses to requests for production, support a finding that the issue of
whether the condition causing the accident was the expansion joints or the hole is
inconclusive. Appellant’s counsel’s spoliation letter sent to Rouse’s on October
26, 2017 refers to the preservation of evidence related to “pot holes” or other
dangerous conditions in the crosswalk. In seeking to repair the condition, an
8
Although Appellant initially denied that her fall was caused by an area that was a joint where four
different sections of concrete met, she then clarifies that to the best of her recollection, it was a joint. She
later locates the location on a photo by stating it “appears to be this area by the joint.” Any inferences
drawn from ambiguities found in Appellant’s deposition testimony should be viewed in the light most
favorable to the Appellant, as the non-moving party. Schroeder v. Bd. of Supervisors, 591 So.2d 343, 345
(La. 1991).
9
At the hearing on the motion for summary judgment, the trial judge stated “the pictures are not a
pothole. . .What I’m looking at with the photographs, you’ve got what appears to be some chips off of the
corners where the four corners join together. It looks like, you know, the corner on, on two just kind of
like they chipped away so it’s not really a pothole. A pothole is where you’ve got something that is
destroyed, the undersurface and, you know. When you think of pothole, you’re thinking of something 12
inches in diameter perhaps.”
20-CA-150 10
employee of Victory, Gina Christopher requested the fixing of a “hole in the drive
at Airline” by email on November 20, 2017 to Sihur “Stan” Hartman.10 Ms.
Christopher also requests that “[b]efore you fix it please measure the length and
depth of the indentation.”11 An invoice of January 25, 2018 reflects that on January
6, 2018, “Rouses reported pot holes in front of store within parking lot” to Property
Services of Louisiana, L.L.C., who removed debris and dirt from three areas,
supplied and installed rapid set mortar mix within two holes, and leveled out two
sections of concrete. Additionally, Appellant’s expert refers to the condition
observed as a “damaged portion of the concrete adjacent to an expansion joint.”
Contrary to Appellees’ motion, there is no fixed rule to determine whether a
defect in a sidewalk or parking lot is unreasonably dangerous. Chambers 85 So.3d
at 598. Whether a risk is unreasonable is a factual matter that must be determined
in light of each particular case’s facts and circumstances, not a simple rule of law
which can be applied mechanically to the facts of the case. Dupree, 65 So.2d at
1012; Reed, 708 So.2d at 364. While summary judgment may be appropriate to
resolving the issue of whether a condition presented an unreasonable risk of
danger, it is best used to determine the legal significance of when the facts are
undisputed. Dowdy v. City of Monroe, 46,693 (La. App. 2 Cir. 11/2/11), 78 So.3d
791, 797-798. The question is not whether Appellant is likely to prevail on the
factual issues at trial, but simply whether there are genuine issues of material fact
for trial. McAdams v. Willis Knighton Medical Center, 38,181 (La. App. 2 Cir.
12/19/03), 862 So.2d 1186, 1192.
10
Ms. Christopher was referred to in discovery documents as the employee who oversees inspections and
scheduling of all parking lot issues. It appears that a carbon copy was sent to Heather M. Madland, but no
evidence was presented as to her identity.
11
There was no evidence presented to show that measurements were taken before repair.
20-CA-150 11
Therefore, as we find there remain genuine issues of material fact with
respect to whether this condition presented an unreasonable risk of harm, we find
the trial court erred in granting Appellees’ motion for summary judgment.
CONCLUSION
Accordingly, we reverse the summary judgment in favor of the Appellees
and remand this case to the trial court for further proceedings.
REVERSED AND REMANDED
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SUSAN M. CHEHARDY CURTIS B. PURSELL
CHIEF JUDGE CLERK OF COURT
MARY E. LEGNON
FREDERICKA H. WICKER
CHIEF DEPUTY CLERK
JUDE G. GRAVOIS
MARC E. JOHNSON
ROBERT A. CHAISSON SUSAN BUCHHOLZ
STEPHEN J. WINDHORST
FIRST DEPUTY CLERK
HANS J. LILJEBERG
JOHN J. MOLAISON, JR. FIFTH CIRCUIT
MELISSA C. LEDET
JUDGES 101 DERBIGNY STREET (70053)
DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL STAFF
POST OFFICE BOX 489
GRETNA, LOUISIANA 70054 (504) 376-1400
(504) 376-1498 FAX
www.fifthcircuit.org
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I CERTIFY THAT A COPY OF THE OPINION IN THE BELOW-NUMBERED MATTER HAS BEEN DELIVERED
IN ACCORDANCE WITH UNIFORM RULES - COURT OF APPEAL, RULE 2-16.4 AND 2-16.5 THIS DAY
DECEMBER 2, 2020 TO THE TRIAL JUDGE, CLERK OF COURT, COUNSEL OF RECORD AND ALL PARTIES
NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL, AS LISTED BELOW:
20-CA-150
E-NOTIFIED
24TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT (CLERK)
HON. RAYMOND S. STEIB, JR. (DISTRICT JUDGE)
MATTHEW A. SHERMAN (APPELLANT) PATRICK R. FOLLETTE (APPELLANT) JOHN E. UNSWORTH, III (APPELLEE)
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