Karpinsky v. American National Insurance Co.

109 So. 3d 102, 2012 WL 1185949, 2012 Miss. App. LEXIS 196
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedApril 10, 2012
DocketNo. 2010-CA-02084-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 109 So. 3d 102 (Karpinsky v. American National Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Karpinsky v. American National Insurance Co., 109 So. 3d 102, 2012 WL 1185949, 2012 Miss. App. LEXIS 196 (Mich. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

IRVING, P.J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Laura Karpinsky commenced this action by filing a complaint in the Harrison County Circuit Court against American National Insurance Company (ANIC) and OraClean, Inc., seeking damages as a result of a slip-and-fall accident at Edge-water Mall in Biloxi, Mississippi.1 OraCle-an timely answered the complaint and later moved for summary judgment, which the circuit court granted. Feeling aggrieved, Karpinsky appeals and argues that the circuit court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of OraClean.

¶ 2. After a careful review of the record, we find that a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether OraClean had sufficient time to remedy the hazardous condition that led to Karpinsky’s fall and resulting injuries. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the circuit court and remand this case for a trial on the merits.

[103]*103FACTS

¶ 3. On August 24, 2005, Karpinsky slipped and fell in a puddle of water in front of Lane Bryant, a retail store located in Edgewater Mall. ANIC owns Edge-water Mall and contracts with OraClean to provide housekeeping services for the mall.

¶ 4. In her complaint, Karpinsky alleged that OraClean was negligent for failing to take reasonable steps to ensure her safety or provide her with adequate warning of the liquid on the floor. Karpinsky maintains that OraClean had actual notice of the spill because a customer had notified the mall’s Guest Services of the spill more than five minutes prior to her accident.2

¶ 5. Gail Clark witnessed Karpinsky’s fall. During her deposition, Clark testified that when she entered Lane Bryant, there was nothing on the floor. She stated that she shopped in Lane Bryant for “about five minutes,” and when she came out of the store, she saw a spill and a cup with ice in it on the floor. She testified that she walked around the spill as she exited the store. Approximately ten seconds later, Clark saw Karpinsky fall. Clark and her husband came over to assist Karpinsky and encouraged her to report the incident at the information booth, which Karpinsky eventually did. Clark further testified that she did not know how the spill had occurred.

¶ 6. Additional facts, as neeessary, will be related during our analysis and discussion of the issue.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUE

¶ 7. An appellate court reviews the grant or denial of a summary-judgment motion de novo. Angle v. Koppers, Inc., 42 So.3d 1, 4 (¶ 6) (Miss.2010). The evidence in the record is viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Id. A party is entitled to summary judgment when “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories[,] and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” M.R.C.P. 56(c). “When a motion for summary judgment is made and [properly] supported ..., an adverse party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denial of his pleadings, but his response, by affidavits or [otherwise] ..., must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” M.R.C.P. 56(e).

¶ 8. The Mississippi Supreme Court has held:

A business owner has a duty to keep his premises in a reasonably safe condition for invitees. Where an injured party demonstrates that the dangerous condition was created by the negligence of the business or its employees, the injured party need not prove notice to the business. However, if the dangerous condition was created by someone not associated with the business, the plaintiff must produce evidence that the owner or operator had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition as well as a sufficient opportunity to correct it.

Miller v. R.B. Wall Oil Co., 970 So.2d 127, 132 (¶ 17) (Miss.2007) (citing Drennan v. Kroger Co., 672 So.2d 1168, 1170-71 (Miss.1996)).

¶ 9. It is uncontested that Karpinsky was a business invitee on the day of the accident. Karpinsky never claimed that [104]*104OraClean caused the spill or that anyone connected to it did. Karpinsky’s only claim was that OraClean had actual knowledge of the spill and had sufficient time to clean it up prior to her fall but failed to do so. Thus, to be entitled to summary judgment, OraClean carried the burden of producing credible evidence that it had neither actual nor constructive knowledge of the spill, or if it had knowledge of it, that it did not have sufficient time to clean it up prior to Karpinsky’s fall. We find that it failed to produce such evidence.

¶ 10. Attached to OraClean’s motion for summary judgment were the following items: Karpinsky’s complaint, a portion of her deposition, Clark’s deposition, and an itemization of facts. Based on the depositions, OraClean proved that the spill could not have been on the floor for more than five minutes and that Karpinsky did not know who caused the spill. OraClean did not offer any evidence that it lacked actual knowledge of the spill. It simply contended at the summary-judgment hearing that Karpinsky could not meet her burden of proof at trial. However, whatever evidence Karpinsky could or could not produce at trial was not an issue until Ora-Clean produced credible evidence at the summary-judgment stage that there were no genuine material issues for trial. It did not produce any evidence that it lacked knowledge of the spill or any evidence regarding the amount of time required to allow it a reasonable opportunity to clean up the spill. Neither Clark nor Karpinsky gave any testimony indicating either the distance between housekeeping’s physical location within the mall and the area where the spill occurred, or the amount of time that would have been required for housekeeping to arrive at the scene after being notified of the spill.

¶ 11. In response to OraClean’s motion for summary judgment, Karpinsky filed the affidavit of Dempsey M. Levi, her former attorney. Attached to the affidavit as exhibits were an Incident Report of Kar-pinsky’s fall, prepared by an employee of Edgewater Mall, and the transcript of a statement that Clark had given to Levi regarding the incident. In the statement, Clark said that it appeared to her that the spill had been on the floor for quite some time because it had spread and had been tracked through. In the Incident Report, Powell stated: “Guest Services advised prior to the alleged incident a customer had informed of a spill in front of Lane Bryant, at which time Guest Services notified housekeeping.” The Incident Report does not indicate the time that the customer reported the spill.

¶ 12. It is clear that Clark’s statement to Levi and the Incident Report create a genuine issue of fact that requires resolution by a jury. Clark’s statement that it appeared that the spill had spread and had been tracked through creates an issue as to how long the spill had been on the floor, notwithstanding her deposition testimony that the spill could not have been there longer than five minutes. The Incident Report proves that OraClean received notification of the spill.

¶ 13. While Levi’s affidavit was objectionable because it did not comport with the requirements of Rule 56(e), OraClean did not file a motion to strike it.3 The affidavit was filed a day before the summary-judgment hearing. M.R.C.P.

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109 So. 3d 102, 2012 WL 1185949, 2012 Miss. App. LEXIS 196, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/karpinsky-v-american-national-insurance-co-missctapp-2012.