DocketNumber: No. 08-MA-66.
Citation Numbers: 2008 Ohio 5936
Judges: DONOFRIO, J.
Filed Date: 11/10/2008
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/6/2016
{¶ 2} On March 21, 2005, Dominic went to a "Marc's" store in Austintown Township, Ohio. Marc's is owned and operated by Marc Glassman, Inc. (Deposition of Jo-Ann Dominic, August 14, 2007, hereafter Tr., 23.) It was approximately 4:30 in the afternoon on a sunny day. (Tr. 23.) As she approached the store, she noticed "a lot" of pedestrian traffic — people entering the store and people exiting the store with their shopping carts. (Tr. 30-36.) In an attempt to avoid some of that pedestrian traffic, she walked along a sidewalk at the corner of the store. (Tr. 39-40.) As she rounded the corner she tripped on any eyebolt. (Tr. 36-37.) She did not notice the eyebolt until she had fallen to the ground. (Tr. 41-21.) As a result, she sustained facial and bodily injuries.
{¶ 3} On February 9, 2007, Dominic filed a complaint in the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court against Marc Glassman, Inc. on the basis of premises liability. Believing the eyebolt to be an open and obvious hazard, Marc's moved for summary judgment on Dominic's claim. Dominic responded with a memorandum in opposition. On February 21, 2008, a magistrate agreed that the eyebolt was an open and obvious hazard and awarded summary judgment in favor of Marc's. Dominic filed objections to the magistrate's decision with the trial court. On March 31, 2008, the trial court adopted the magistrate's decision, also finding that the danger was open and obvious. This appeal followed.
{¶ 4} Dominic raises two assignments of error which can be addressed simultaneously. They state, respectively:
{¶ 5} "The trial court erred when it ruled that the Open and Obvious Doctrine applied to the case at hand." *Page 2
{¶ 6} "The trial court erred when it granted the Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment."
{¶ 7} As an initial, procedural matter, Dominic has attached to her brief photocopies of an affidavit and photographs of the eyebolt. The affidavit is her own, in which she describes the circumstances surrounding her fall and incorporates the photographs by reference as an accurate depiction of the eyebolt that she tripped on. Marc's argues that exhibits attached to an appellate brief are not part of the record and cannot be considered on appeal, citing this court's decision inGray v. Totterdale Bros. Supply Co., Inc., 7th Dist. No. 07 BE 11,
{¶ 8} Turning to the substantive merits of the appeal, an appellate court reviews a trial court's decision on a motion for summary judgment de novo. Bonacorsi v. Wheeling Lake Erie Ry. Co.,
{¶ 9} "[A] party seeking summary judgment, on the ground that the nonmoving party cannot prove its case, bears the initial burden of informing the trial court of the basis for the motion, and identifying those portions of the record that demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact on the essential element(s) of the nonmoving party's claims. The moving party cannot discharge its initial burden under Civ. R. 56 simply by making a conclusory assertion that the nonmoving party has no evidence to prove its case. Rather, the moving party must *Page 3
be able to specifically point to some evidence of the type listed in Civ. R. 56(C) which affirmatively demonstrates that the nonmoving party has no evidence to support the nonmoving party's claims. * * *" (Emphasis sic.) Dresher v. Burt (1996),
{¶ 10} The "portions of the record" or evidentiary materials listed in Civ. R. 56(C) include the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, written admissions, affidavits, transcripts of evidence, and written stipulations of fact that have been filed in the case. The court is obligated to view all the evidentiary material in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Temple v. Wean United,Inc. (1977),
{¶ 11} "If the moving party fails to satisfy its initial burden, the motion for summary judgment must be denied. However, if the moving party has satisfied its initial burden, the nonmoving party then has a reciprocal burden outlined in Civ. R. 56(E) to set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial and, if the nonmovant does not so respond, summary judgment, if appropriate, shall be entered against the nonmoving party." Dresher,
{¶ 12} Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue as to any material fact. A "material fact" depends on the substantive law of the claim being litigated. Hoyt, Inc. v. Gordon Assoc.,Inc. (1995),
{¶ 13} Here, the claim is negligence. A negligence claim requires the plaintiff to prove: (1) duty; (2) breach of duty; (3) causation; and (4) damages. Anderson v. St. Francis-St. George Hosp., Inc. (1996),
{¶ 14} In addition to the open and obvious exception to the general rule of premises liability, there exists an exception to that exception. In Zuzan v. Shutrump,
{¶ 15} "Attendant circumstances are attractions or distractions that divert or obscure the attention of the pedestrian, thereby significantly enhancing the danger of the defect and contributing to the fall. Attendant circumstances are such that it would come to the attention of a reasonable invitee in the same circumstance and reduce the degree of care that an ordinary person would exercise. Huey v. Neal,
{¶ 16} Dominic's principal argument is that the eyebolt was not open and obvious. In support, she points to the photographs of the area near where she fell. She states that they reveal that the eyebolt was "camouflaged" by defects in the concrete and that it was so small as to be "hidden and concealed from view and not discoverable upon ordinary inspection." Additionally, she argues that attendant circumstances exacerbated the hazard posed by the eyebolt. She points to the facts *Page 5 that the eyebolt was on a corner near the entrance to the store and the volume of traffic entering and exiting the store.
{¶ 17} Marc's argues that the eyebolt was an open and obvious hazard. To illustrate, Marc's likens this case to Gray, supra. In Gray, the plaintiff fell on a water cover embedded in the sidewalk. This court observed, "There is no evidence that anything was blocking [plaintiff's] view of the water cover after she walked around the vehicles on the sidewalk. Instead, [her] testimony shows that her own inattention to where she was walking caused her injury." Gray, 7th Dist. No. 07 BE 11,
{¶ 18} The facts, even when viewed in a light most favorable to Dominic, demonstrate that the danger in this case was open and obvious and attendant circumstances would not have prevented Dominic from discovering the danger, so Marc's did not owe Dominic a duty of care and could not, therefore, be negligent. In the trial court below, both parties submitted copies of photographs of the eyebolt and its location. Upon review, it is plainly obvious that the eyebolt was visible to all those who may have encountered it. It was a sunny day when Dominic fell and she testified that nothing obstructed her view of the sidewalk. (Tr. 30-31.) After she had fallen, she testified that she was able to see the eyebolt. (Tr. 41-42.)
{¶ 19} Dominic did indicate that she was attempting to avoid pedestrian traffic entering and exiting the store. However, it is not clear whether the traffic could be characterized as heavy and, thus, constitute an attendant circumstance. Even construing the evidence in a light most favorable to Dominic, her testimony was not enough to establish that the pedestrian traffic significantly enhanced the danger of the defect and contributed to her fall. Zuzan, supra.
{¶ 20} This case represents the typical one where the plaintiff simply had not been watching where they were walking. Pedestrians are expected to take proper precautionary measures while walking. See Nageotte v.Cafaro Co., *Page 6
{¶ 21} In sum, there appears no genuine issue of material fact regarding whether the eyebolt was an open and obvious danger. Dominic's testimony shows that she could have easily avoided the danger if she had merely been watching where she was walking and nothing significant prevented her from discovering the danger in time to avoid it. Therefore, Marc's did not owe a duty of care to Dominic as it pertains to the eyebolt and the trial court properly granted summary judgment to Marc's.
{¶ 22} Accordingly, both of Dominic's assignments of error are without merit.
{¶ 23} The judgment of the trial court is hereby affirmed.
*Page 1Vukovich, J., and Waite, J., concurs.