Dybek v. Fedex Trade Networks Transport & Brokerage, Inc.

997 F. Supp. 2d 767, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23085, 2014 WL 643812
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedFebruary 18, 2014
DocketCase No. 13-10627
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 997 F. Supp. 2d 767 (Dybek v. Fedex Trade Networks Transport & Brokerage, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dybek v. Fedex Trade Networks Transport & Brokerage, Inc., 997 F. Supp. 2d 767, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23085, 2014 WL 643812 (E.D. Mich. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

DAVID M. LAWSON, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Jozef Dybek and his wife Ire-na, Canadian citizens, filed this slip-and-fall case against FedEx corporation, an American company, alleging negligence under a premises liability theory and nuisance. The accident occurred near the American-Canadian border crossing in Port Huron, Michigan. Michigan law governs. Defendant FedEx filed a motion for summary judgment contending that the snow-and-ice hazzard described by the plaintiff was open and obvious, and therefore the defendant had no duty to warn or make the premises safe. Dybek Responded that special aspects of the hazzard made it effectively unavoidable, and therefore an exception to Michigan’s open-and-obvious rule applies here. FedEx replies that the facts do not support that exception. The Court heard oral argument on the motion on February 13, 2014. The Court now finds that the plaintiffs have abandoned their nuisance claim, but fact questions that remain on the negligence claim preclude summary judgment.

According to the parties’ submissions, plaintiffs Jozef Dybek and Irena Dybek are residents of Caledon, Ontario, Canada. Defendant FedEx Trade Networks Transport & Brokerage, Inc. is a corporation organized under New York law. On February 1, 2011, Mr. Dybek was employed by Concord Transportation as a truck driver and was assigned to deliver freight from Canada to Chicago. The plaintiff drove a tractor/trailer from Ontario, Canada across the Blue Water Bridge that connects Sar-nia, Ontario with Port Huron, Michigan. After crossing the border, United States Customs’ officials informed Mr. Dybek that part of the freight did not clear customs because he did not have the appropriate paperwork. Officials told Mr. Dybek that he was required to offload the part of the freight that did not have proper paperwork. In February 2011, Concord had a business relationship with FedEx that allowed Concord drivers to unload their cargo at a FedEx warehouse in nearby Kim-ball Township if the cargo did not clear customs. The arrangement enabled drivers to store the non-cleared freight in a secure warehouse until U.S. Customs officials received and processed the necessary paperwork. If the U.S. Customs officials allowed that accommodation, the driver was legally required to bring the non-cleared freight to the specified location.

After a portion of Mr. Dybek’s freight did not clear U.S. Customs, a Concord dispatcher notified FedEx that a portion of Mr. Dybek’s freight did not clear customs and arranged for Mr. Dybek to deliver the non-cleared freight to FedEx’s warehouse in Kimball Township. Upon arrival at the FedEx facility, Mr. Dybek parked and walked to the FedEx shipping office with the paperwork from U.S. Customs. A FedEx employee told him to use the loading [770]*770dock bay to unload the freight. Although the path to the shipping office door was clear, Mr. Dybek observed that the entire loading dock in the back of the warehouse was covered with snow and ice. FedEx employees had not plowed or shoveled the loading dock area at all.

After Mr. Dybek backed his truck to the loading dock, a FedEx employee removed the uncleared freight while Mr. Dybek waited in the cab. Mr. Dybek then pulled away about ten feet from the dock, got out of the cab, and walked to the back of the trailer to close and seal the trailer’s rear doors. After closing one door, Mr. Dybek slipped and fell while trying to close the second door. He suffered serious injuries as a result of the fall, including a skull fracture and subdural hematoma.

The plaintiffs filed a complaint in this Court on February 14, 2013, amended two weeks later, alleging negligence based on premises liability and nuisance. On March 21, 2013, the defendant filed a motion for summary judgment, which it withdrew on April 24, 2013. After discovery was completed, the defendant renewed its motion for summary judgment on October 29, 2013. The plaintiffs answered the motion and the defendant filed a reply.

I.

Summary judgment is appropriate “if the movant shows that there is no 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). Under Rule 56 — the summary judgment rule — the party bringing the summary judgment motion has the initial burden of informing the court of the basis for its motion and identifying portions of the record that demonstrate the absence of a genuine dispute over material facts. Mt. Lebanon Pers. Care Home, Inc. v. Hoover Universal, Inc., 276 F.3d 845, 848 (6th Cir.2002). If the party opposing the motion contends facts are in dispute, he may not “rely on the hope that the trier of fact will disbelieve the movant’s denial of a disputed fact” but must make an affirmative showing with proper evidence in order to defeat the motion. Street v. J.C. Bradford & Co., 886 F.2d 1472, 1479 (6th Cir.1989). A party opposing a motion for summary judgment must designate specific facts in affidavits, depositions, or other factual material showing “evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The Court then “must construe the evidence and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party.” Hawkins v. Anheuser-Busch Inc., 517 F.3d 321, 332 (6th Cir.2008). “Summary judgment ... is appropriate only where there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Hunt v. Cromartie, 526 U.S. 541, 549, 119 S.Ct. 1545, 143 L.Ed.2d 731 (1999) (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Anderson, 477 U.S. at 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505).

This case is before the Court on the basis of diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, and the plaintiffs’ claims are based entirely on state law. Therefore, the Court must apply the law of the forum state’s highest court. Erie R.R. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 78, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938). All agree that Michigan law applies to this dispute. If the state’s highest court has not decided an issue, then “the federal court must ascertain the state law from ‘all relevant data,’ ” Garden City Osteopathic Hasp. v. HBE Corp., 55 F.3d 1126, 1130 (6th Cir.1995) (quoting Bailey v. V. & O Press Co., 770 F.2d 601, 604 (6th Cir.1985)), which can include “the state’s intermediate appellate court decisions, as well as the state supreme court’s relevant dicta,” Ososki v. St.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
997 F. Supp. 2d 767, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23085, 2014 WL 643812, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dybek-v-fedex-trade-networks-transport-brokerage-inc-mied-2014.