Green v. Manly Construction Co.

159 So. 2d 881
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJanuary 24, 1964
DocketNo. 3776
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 159 So. 2d 881 (Green v. Manly Construction Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Green v. Manly Construction Co., 159 So. 2d 881 (Fla. Ct. App. 1964).

Opinion

WHITE, Judge.

Appellants William Green and minor son Paul Green were plaintiffs in a suit for damages for injuries sustained by the minor plaintiff when he climbed on the rear of a road roller belonging to the corporate defendant Manly Construction Company and operated by the defendant Walter Meeks. The mishap occurred when the boy lost his balance and was caught between the frame and a rear wheel of the vehicle causing severe abrasions of the leg. The final judgment here reviewed is a summary judgment entered for the defendants on oral motion following pre-trial conference.

The original complaint was. based on the theory of attractive nuisance. However, after the defendants filed their answer the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint containing general allegations of negligence but, in essence, hinging the case on the doctrine of last clear chance. The plaintiffs alleged that Paul Green was playing near the highway where the road roller was being operated and that tire operator knew that Paul Green was near by, that Paul Green climbed upon the rear end of the road roller, slipped and had his leg caught as indicated, began to shout, and was carried some distance before the vehicle was brought to a halt. It was alleged that the operator “persisted in his negligent and careless refusal to look behind him so that he could either hear or see minor plaintiff in his helpless peril” and that in the exercise of ordinary care the operator should have known of the boy’s peril.

The defendants denied negligence, pleaded contributory negligence, averred that the operator was not aware of the boy’s situation until a stranger flagged him down, that there was no reason that the operator should have had previous knowledge of the situation, and that in the circumstances the boy was a trespasser to whom the defendants owed no duty except to refrain from wil-fully or wantonly injuring him after becoming aware of his presence. Plaintiffs father and son answered interrogatories propounded by the defendants, and the minor plaintiff was separately deposed. The plaintiffs took the deposition of the defendant operator who stated that he did not [883]*883hear the boy or know of his presence until he brought the tractor-roller to a stop on signal from a bystander. A signed statement by the minor plaintiff witnessed by his parents was also made a part of the record and is hereafter set forth. On the court’s motion the cause was duly scheduled for pre-trial conference pursuant to Rule 1.16, Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, 30 F.S.A., which requires notification not less than ten days prior to the conference.

At the pre-trial conference the court considered the pleadings, the aforementioned statement and depositions, statements of counsel and a motion ore terms for summary judgment for the defendants. From this material it was clearly evident that the road roller was a large and heavy vehicle towed by a tractor which made considerable noise, and the driver of the tractor was seated to the front near the engine and not far from the exhaust and was required by the nature of his work to look in a generally forward direction. Other pertinent facts, similarly evident, are included in the findings of the trial court in the order entitled “Pre-trial Order and Final Judgment” from which the following quotation reflects the determination of the case:

“Plaintiffs’ counsel announced that his theory of liability was that, as soon as the minor plaintiff lost his footing and had his lower extremities caught and jammed in such a manner as to injure him, that he -was then in such a position of helpless peril as to place upon the driver of the machine the duty of protecting him from further injury; that the minor plaintiff’s cries ought to have put the operator on notice of his peril even though the driver did not hear these cries, since Plaintiff stated that some other persons did hear them.
“There is no allegation in the Complaint that the defendant driver had any actual knowledge that the minor plaintiff was upon, or near the machine at the time of injury. The complaint alleges that the defendant-driver in the exercise of ordinary care should have known that the minor plaintiff was in a position of peril from which he could not escape unassisted. This is a conclusion of the pleader. No facts are alleged which would support such a conclusion.
“Counsel for the defendant then moved the court to enter judgment for the defendants, on the grounds that plaintiff’s case, as stated, could not create any basis for the liability of either defendant. Counsel for Plaintiffs raised objection to Defendant’s motion on the basis that no prior notice of said motion had been furnished Plaintiffs’ counsel. Counsel for the defendant urged that the minor plaintiff was a trespasser upon the machine; that no duty would arise until the defendant driver became aware of the minor plaintiff’s position of peril, and that the doctrine of last clear chance could not come into play until the defendant knows, or in the exercise of ordinary care, ought to know, this fact, and that such knowledge, actual or implied, must reach the defendant in sufficient time to permit the defendant to act.
“The court then heard arguments of counsel, and statements by plaintiff’s counsel that he had evidence that other persons heard the minor plaintiff’s cries before the defendant driver stopped the machine. Both parties referred to the depositions of the minor plaintiff and the operator, Walter Meeks, and freely discussed the facts.
“The undisputed evidence showed that at the time the minor plaintiff tried to climb upon the rear of the machine and was injured neither he nor the operator could see the other because of the height of the roller.
“The operator did not hear the minor plaintiff’s shout, nor is it contended that he did.
“At the conclusion of arguments, the court granted the defendant’s motion [884]*884on the grounds that the facts, showed no liability on the part of the defendants, and particularly on the ‘last clear chance’ theory.
“After the court had granted the defendants’ motion, counsel for plaintiff sought leave to amend the Complaint, without indicating in what respects. The court denied this motion.
“It is accordingly
“ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that judgment be and it is hereby rendered against the Plaintiffs and in favor of the Defendants; that the Plaintiffs take nothing by their case and that the Defendants go hence without day.”

Plaintiffs protest on appeal (1) that the •adverse judgment took them by surprise and was procedurally prejudicial; (2) that it was error to deny their oral request for leave to amend the amended complaint; and (3) that the judgment was otherwise erroneous, particularly in its rejection of the “last clear chance” theory of liability.

Plaintiffs first contend that it was error to grant the defendants’ motion for judgment in the absence of a formal advance notice to the plaintiffs that such judgment would or might be sought.1 This argument fails in view of the fact that the litigants were charged with knowledge that the trial court may, of its own motion, enter summary judgment consequent upon pre-trial conference provided at least ten days advance notice of the conference has been given. F.R.C.P.

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Bluebook (online)
159 So. 2d 881, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/green-v-manly-construction-co-fladistctapp-1964.