DENIS v. CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE INC

CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Georgia
DecidedSeptember 26, 2022
Docket5:22-cv-00095
StatusUnknown

This text of DENIS v. CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE INC (DENIS v. CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE INC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
DENIS v. CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE INC, (M.D. Ga. 2022).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA MACON DIVISION MONISSA DENIS, Plaintiff, v. CIVIL ACTION NO. 5:22-cv-00095-TES CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE, INC., and JOHN DOE 1–2, Defendants.

ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Plaintiff, Monissa Denis (“Denis”), brings claims against Defendant Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (“Cracker Barrel”), arising out of alleged injuries she sustained in a trip-and-fall incident at Cracker Barrel on February 22, 2020. [Doc. 1, pp. 1–2]. Denis commenced this action in the State Court of Bibb County, Georgia, on January 5, 2022. [Doc. 1, p. 1]. Cracker Barrel filed a Notice of Removal [Doc. 1] from the State Court of Bibb County to this District pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332, 1441, and 1446, on March 4, 2022. [Doc. 1]. On June 13, 2022, Cracker Barrel filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. [Doc. 8]. As detailed below, the Court GRANTS Cracker Barrel’s Motion for Summary Judgment.1

1 The Court needs to address two housekeeping items before getting to the meat of the order. First, Denis also brings claims against fictitious defendants John Doe 1 and John Doe 2. “As a general matter, fictitious-party pleading is not permitted in federal court.” Richardson v. Johnson, 598 F.3d 734, 738 (11th FACTUAL BACKGROUND On the sunny morning of February 22, 2020, Denis visited the Cracker Barrel

restaurant at 5000 Eisenhower Parkway in Macon, Georgia. [Doc. 1-3, p. 38, ¶ 8]; [Doc. 8-1, p. 6]. As she left the restaurant, Denis carried her two-year-old grandson in her arms, then started running towards her vehicle. [Doc. 8-1, pp. 2, 7–8]; [Doc. 8-2, p. 4].

While running, she lost balance when she stepped down from the restaurant’s patio. [Doc. 8-1, p. 6]; [Doc. 8-2, p. 4]. She then stumbled down the parking lot and slammed her head against the rear bumper of a parked vehicle.2 [Id.]. Denis alleges that she

initially fell because her foot went into a “hole” in the parking lot near the edge of the patio. [Doc. 1-3, pp. 38–39]. She suffered injuries and medical expenses because of her

Cir. 2010). However, a limited exception to this general prohibition exists “when the plaintiff’s description of the defendant is so specific as to be at the very worst, surplusage.” Id. (internal quotes and citation omitted). Since Denis has yet to amend the Complaint to disclose the identity of or otherwise attempt to describe fictitious defendants John Doe 1 and John Doe 2, the Court sua sponte DISMISSES Denis’s claims against them WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

Second, the Court notes that discovery in this case ends on September 28, 2022. [Doc. 7, p. 2]. Nothing in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or the Court’s Scheduling Order precludes a party from filing a dispositive motion prior to discovery expiring. Further, Denis has not filed a motion requesting more time to respond. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(d) (stating that, “[i]f a nonmovant shows by affidavit or declaration that, for specified reasons, it cannot present facts essential to justify its opposition, the court may: (1) defer considering the motion or deny it; (2) allow time to obtain affidavits or declarations or to take discovery; or (3) issue any other appropriate order.”). Thus, nothing precludes the Court from ruling on Cracker Barrel’s motion at this time.

2 The Patient Care Report states, “[t]he [patient] states she was running while holding her grandson. [Patient] began to loose [sic] balance running down a hill and ran into a parked vehicle.” [Doc. 8-2, p. 4]. fall.3 [Doc. 1-1, pp. 2–3]; [Doc. 1-3, pp. 4–5]; [Doc. 8-1, p. 5]; [Doc. 8-2]. Although Denis alleges that she fell because her foot got stuck in a hole—or as

she later referred to it, a “crack/pothole/break in the pavement”—pictures of the parking lot indicate that no such hole, or even a hazard, exists. [Doc. 1-3, pp. 38–41]; [Doc. 9, p. 1]; [Doc. 8-2, p. 4]; [Doc. 8-3, pp. 1–2]. In fact, Denis’s own photograph that

she took of the area where she fell shows no hole or similar hazard that Cracker Barrel visitors would have to traverse. [Doc. 8-1, pp. 4–5, 7–8]; [Doc. 8-4, p. 2]. Further, Brandon Wiggins, a civil engineer who visited the Cracker Barrel restaurant where

Denis fell to take measurements and photographs of the area, claimed that there were no potholes in the area where Denis allegedly tripped and fell.4 [Doc. 8-3, pp. 1–2]. Wiggins claimed—and attached photographs in his affidavit to support—that there was “no uneven pavement, raised crack, or other protrusion in the area where Denis

allegedly tripped and fell.” [Id. at pp. 2–4]. Below are photos of the area where Denis fell. The first photo is Denis’s photo,

3 In response to Cracker Barrel’s first set of interrogatories, Denis stated: “Plaintiff is not a medical practitioner; however, [P]laintiff sustained a broken ankle, concussion, blood clots as a result to the broken ankle, knee injury, which resulted in surgery.” [Doc. 8-1, p. 5].

4 Wiggins visited the Cracker Barrel restaurant where Denis fell on May 24, 2022, over two years after Denis fell. [Doc. 8-3, p. 1]; [Doc. 1-3, p. 2]. However, Wiggins states that “[o]n May 24, 2022, [he] observed no repairs, potholes, or new pavement in the area where Plaintiff allegedly tripped and fell, thus [he] can conclude that the area had not been repaired and is in the same condition as it was on February 22, 2020.” [Doc. 8-3, p. 2]. Wiggins further stated that “[o]n April 28, 2022, [he] was provided with Plaintiff’s February 22, 2020 photograph of the area where she allegedly fell. Based on [his] analysis of Plaintiff’s photograph and the measurements [he] took at the subject Cracker Barrel on May 24, 2022, [he] can conclude that the area where Plaintiff allegedly tripped and fell was in the same condition on May 24, 2022 as it was on February 22, 2020.” [Id.]. Plaintiff offers nothing to rebut this critical testimony. and the bottom two are Wiggins’s. [Doc. 8-4, p. 2]. These are the only three photos provided by the parties in the record.® 1m □

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DISCUSSION A. Legal Standard

1. Summary Judgment Standard A court must grant summary judgment “if the movant shows that there is no

5 Cracker Barrel attached Wiggins’s two photos twice, once in Wiggins’s affidavit [Doc. 8-3, pp. 3-4], and once in its memorandum of law in support of its motion. [Doc. 8-4, p. 2].

genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). A factual dispute is not genuine unless, based on

the evidence presented, “‘a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.’” Info. Sys. & Networks Corp. v. City Atlanta, 281 F.3d 1220, 1224 (11th Cir. 2002) (quoting U.S. v. Four Parcels Real Prop., 941 F.2d 1428, 1437 (11th Cir. 1991)); see also

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986).

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