Jacqueline Gibson v. Stonebriar Mall, LLC, D/B/A Stonebriar Centre, Xencom Facility Management, LLC. and Mydatt Services, Inc. D/B/A Valor Security Services

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 8, 2019
Docket05-17-01242-CV
StatusPublished

This text of Jacqueline Gibson v. Stonebriar Mall, LLC, D/B/A Stonebriar Centre, Xencom Facility Management, LLC. and Mydatt Services, Inc. D/B/A Valor Security Services (Jacqueline Gibson v. Stonebriar Mall, LLC, D/B/A Stonebriar Centre, Xencom Facility Management, LLC. and Mydatt Services, Inc. D/B/A Valor Security Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Jacqueline Gibson v. Stonebriar Mall, LLC, D/B/A Stonebriar Centre, Xencom Facility Management, LLC. and Mydatt Services, Inc. D/B/A Valor Security Services, (Tex. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

AFFIRMED and Opinion Filed February 8, 2019

S In The Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-17-01242-CV

JACQUELINE GIBSON, Appellant V. STONEBRIAR MALL, LLC, D/B/A STONEBRIAR CENTRE, XENCOM FACILITY MANAGEMENT, LLC. AND MYDATT SERVICES, INC. D/B/A VALOR SECURITY SERVICES, Appellees

On Appeal from the 366th Judicial District Court Collin County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 366-04270-2016

MEMORANDUM OPINION Before Justices Bridges, Partida-Kipness, and Carlyle Opinion by Justice Bridges Appellant Jacqueline Gibson filed suit against appellants Stonebriar Mall, LLC d/b/a

Stonebriar Centre (Stonebriar), Xencom Facility Management, LLC (Xencom) and Mydatt

Services, Inc. d/b/a Valor Security Services (Mydatt) after slipping on ice in a parking lot and

sustaining injuries. Appellees filed traditional and no-evidence motions for summary judgment.

The trial court granted the motions without specifying the grounds. Gibson raises ten issues on

appeal that encompass three general categories: (1) the trial court’s denial of her motion for

continuance; (2) the trial court’s granting of the summary judgments; and (3) the trial court’s

findings of fact and conclusions of law. We affirm the trial court’s judgments. Background

On the evening of March 4, 2015, a winter storm moved through North Texas causing

temperatures to fall below freezing and turning rain into ice and snow. Snow continued to fall and

accumulate into the next day with temperatures remaining well below freezing. By March 6, 2015,

clear skies returned and temperatures climbed into the forties.

Gibson knew remnants of ice and snow remained in the area when she drove to Nordstrom

on March 6, but roads had cleared and people were once again venturing out. Shortly after 11

a.m., Gibson parked in a handicap spot near the front of Nordstrom. She walked up the yellow-

painted pedestrian walkway and slipped on what she believed was a patch of black ice. She landed

on her wrist and bottom. After she fell, she noticed “grainy material that was either sand or Ice

Melt.” She admitted she was not paying attention to the ground as she walked towards the entrance

because, “It was a very crowded place,” and she did not want to bump into anyone.

An individual in a security vehicle arrived and sprinkled what looked like a deicing

material or sand on the ground. She recalled someone saying, “someone had just fallen in that

very same spot 15 minutes earlier.” An ambulance took her to the hospital where she received

treatment for a fractured wrist.

On September 23, 2016, Gibson filed an original petition alleging a premises liability claim

against Stonebriar for “negligently maintaining the walkway from the parking lot to the sidewalk;

negligently creating and/or allowing a dangerous condition to exist by not inspecting the area and

failing to make ingress and egress safe or close to the area,” and failing to warn individuals of the

unreasonably dangerous condition. Gibson later filed a first amended petition to correct the name

of defendant Stonebriar Mall, LLC d/b/a Stonebriar Centre, which she originally misidentified as

General Growth Properties, Inc. d/b/a Stonebriar Centre. She also added Xencom and Mydatt as

defendants.

–2– Stonebriar and Xencom moved for summary judgment on both traditional and no-evidence

grounds. They argued Gibson’s fall resulted from the natural accumulation of ice, which the Texas

Supreme Court has held is not an unreasonably dangerous condition. See Scott & White Mem.

Hosp. v. Fair, 310 S.W.3d 411, 414 (Tex. 2010). Mydatt moved for summary judgment on both

traditional and no-evidence grounds arguing it had no legal duty to Gibson because it did not own

the premises and because natural accumulation of ice is not an unreasonably dangerous condition.

The motions were set for hearing on July 27, 2017.

On July 18, 2017, Gibson filed a motion for continuance seeking additional time for

discovery to adequately respond to the motions. The following day, she filed an amended motion

for continuance and a second amended petition. Her second amended petition added negligent

undertaking and negligent activity claims against Stonebriar, Xencom, and Mydatt. They did not

amend their motions for summary judgment to challenge these causes of actions prior to the

summary judgment hearing.

Gibson argued in her summary judgment response that the icy patch she slipped on was

the result of negligently piled snow and ice near the ramp that slowly melted and refroze. She

asserted, “This unnatural accumulation of deeper snow and ice, in combination with a de-icing

product also used nearby on the sidewalk, resulted in an increased runoff of water across the

sloping handicap ramp. This water then re-froze overnight.” Gibson attached pictures to her

motion showing snow and/or ice accumulation beside the entrance doors to Nordstrom and other

areas of the parking lot. She also attached affidavits from herself and Randall Barnett, Stonebriar’s

senior general manager.

On July 27, 2017, the trial court granted all three defendants’ traditional and no-evidence

motions for summary judgment without specifying the grounds. In separate orders, the trial court

–3– denied Gibson’s motion for continuance and overruled her objection and special exceptions to the

defendants’ summary judgment evidence.

Gibson subsequently filed a motion for new trial and requested findings of fact and

conclusions of law regarding the denial of her continuance motion and the granting of the summary

judgments. The trial court denied her motion for new trial. The court did, however, make written

findings of fact and conclusions of law that, among other things, found and concluded there was

no evidence or insufficient evidence that the naturally occurring ice was an unreasonable risk of

harm to Gibson or that defendants were actively negligent in permitting or creating an unnatural

accumulation of ice. The court’s findings and conclusions were silent regarding Gibson’s

continuance motion. Gibson requested additional findings and conclusions; however, the record

does not include any additional findings and conclusions. This appeal followed.

Motion for Continuance

In her first issue, Gibson argues the trial court abused its discretion by denying her motion

for continuance because she needed additional time to conduct discovery and obtain controverting

affidavits prior to the summary judgment hearing. Appellees respond the trial court did not abuse

its discretion because Gibson failed to show a continuance was necessary and failed to exercise

diligence in obtaining the discovery.

We review the denial of a motion for continuance for an abuse of discretion. BMC Software

Belgium, N.V. v. Marchand, 83 S.W.3d 789, 800 (Tex. 2002). In deciding whether the trial court

abused its discretion, three nonexclusive factors are helpful: (1) the length of the time the case has

been on file; (2) the materiality and purpose of the discovery sought; and (3) whether due diligence

was exercised in obtaining discovery. Joe v. Two Thirty Nine Joint Venture, 145 S.W.3d 150, 161

(Tex. 2004).

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Jacqueline Gibson v. Stonebriar Mall, LLC, D/B/A Stonebriar Centre, Xencom Facility Management, LLC. and Mydatt Services, Inc. D/B/A Valor Security Services, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jacqueline-gibson-v-stonebriar-mall-llc-dba-stonebriar-centre-xencom-texapp-2019.