Khambraya Stanley v. Scott Petroleum Corporation

185 So. 3d 1028, 2015 Miss. App. LEXIS 17, 2015 WL 148915
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJanuary 13, 2015
Docket2013-CA-01238-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 185 So. 3d 1028 (Khambraya Stanley v. Scott Petroleum Corporation) 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
Khambraya Stanley v. Scott Petroleum Corporation, 185 So. 3d 1028, 2015 Miss. App. LEXIS 17, 2015 WL 148915 (Mich. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

LEE, C.J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. In this premises-liability case, we must determine whether summary judgment was appropriately granted in favor of Scott Petroleum Corporation. We find summary judgment was proper; thus, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. Khambraya 1 Stanley and Jeanette Winchester (collectively Stanley) were patronizing a gas station owned and operated by Scott Petroleum when they were struck from behind by an out-of-control car. The gas station was located at the corner of Highway 7 and Highway 82 in Greenwood, Mississippi. Both women were standing between the walk-up window and a set of vending shelves containing drinks for purchase. The car collided with the vending shelves, all of which collided with Stanley, causing injuries. According to the police report, the car’s brakes purportedly malfunctioned as the car was attempting to slow down at the intersection of Highway 7 and Highway 82. The car then entered the gas-station parking lot traveling at approximately forty-five miles per hour.

¶ 3. Stanley filed suit against Scott Petroleum in the Leflore County Circuit Court, alleging negligence, gross negligence, and respondeat superior. Scott Petroleum filed a motion for summary judgment. After a hearing on the motion, the trial court granted Scott Petroleum’s’ motion for summary judgment, finding that Scott Petroleum did not have a duty to erect barriers to protect Stanley from the type of accident involved in this case.

¶ 4. Stanley now appeals, asserting the trial court erred by (1) granting summary judgment and (2) failing to grant a continuance.

STANDARD OF REVÍEW

¶ 5. In considering a trial court’s grant of a motion for summary judgment, this Court conducts a de novo review and “examines all the evidentiary matters before it — admissions in pleadings, answers to interrogatories,, depositions, affidavits, etc.” City of Jackson v. Sutton, 797 So.2d 977, 979 (¶ 7) (Miss.2001) (citation omitted). The Mississippi Supreme Court recently clarified the summary-judgment standard, explaining that “[t]he movant bears the burden of persuading the trial judge that: (1) no genuine issue of material fact exists, and (2) on the basis of the. facts established, he is entitled to [a] judgment as a matter of law.”. Karpinsky v. Am. Nat’l Ins. Co., 109 So.3d 84, 88 (¶ 11) (Miss.2013) (citation omitted). The supreme court further stated that “[t]he movant bears the burden of production if, at trial, [she] would bear the burden of proof on the issue raised. In other words, the movant only bears the burden of production where [she] would bear the burden of proof at trial.” Id. at 88-89 (¶ 11) (citations omitted). The supreme court again clarified that “while [d]efendants carry the initial burden of persuading the trial judge that no issue of material fact exists and that they are entitled to summary judgment based upon the established facts, [the plaintiff] carries the burden of producing sufficient evidence of the essential ele *1031 ments of her claim at the summary-judgment stage, as she would carry the burden of production at trial.” Id. at (¶ 13).

DISCUSSION

I. SUMMARY JUDGMENT

¶ 6. Stanley contends the trial court erred in granting Scott Petroleum’s motion for summary judgment. Mississippi uses a three-step process in analyzing premises liability: “First, we must determine whether the injured party was an invitee, licensee, or a trespasser at the time of the injury. Next, we must determine what duty was owed to the injured party by the business owner/operator. Finally, we must determine whether that duty was breached.” Rod v. Home Depot USA Inc., 931 So.2d 692, 694 (¶ 9) (Miss.Ct.App.2006) (internal citations omitted).

¶ 7. It is undisputed that Stanley was a business invitee because she came to the gas station “in answer to the express or implied invitation of the owner or occupant for their mutual advantage.” Id. at (¶ 10) (citation omitted). “A business owner/operator owes to invitees the dúty to keep the premises reasonably safe, and when not reasonably safe, to warn only where there is hidden danger or peril that is not in plain and open view.” Id. (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

¶ 8. To succeed in her premises-liability action, Stanley must prove one of the following: “(1) a negligent act by [Scott Petroleum] caused [her] injury; or, (2) that [Scott Petroleum] had actual knowledge of a dangerous condition, but failed to warn [her] of the danger; or, (3) the dangerous condition remained long enough to impute constructive knowledge to [Scott Petroleum].” Byrne v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 877 So.2d 462, 465 (¶ 5) (Miss.Ct.App.2003) (citation omitted). A business owner, however, is, not an insurer of an invitee’s injuries. Id. at (¶ 6).

¶ 9. Stanley contends Scott Petroleum should have known that a dangerous condition existed. Stanley argues that patrons standing at the walk-up window were not protected from vehicles in or around the gas-station parking lot. Stanley states Scott Petroleum acknowledged the potentially dangerous condition by erecting concrete bollards around the store,' gas pumps, and power pole, as well as including a warning sign-stating: “Caution! Be safe' and alert. Watch out for moving vehicles.” Stanley further argues that concrete bollards should have been placed around the walk-up window for the protection of Scott Petroleum’s customers.

¶ 10. Scott Petroleum cites to Carpenter v. Stop-N-Go Markets of Georgia Inc., 512 So.2d 708 (Miss.1987), Heard v. Intervest Corp., 856 So.2d 359, 360 (Miss.Ct.App.2003), and Blount v. The Pantry Inc., 936 So.2d 967 (Miss.Ct.App.2006), for support; In Carpenter, a thirteen-year-old boy was attempting to steal'a car when he drove it through "the front window of the store. Carpenter, 512 So.2d at 709. The car pushed over a display counter, which knocked Carpenter to the floor, injuring him. Id. The Mississippi Supreme Court held that “there is, as-a matter of law, no duty owed by a convenience store owner, to persons inside the store, to erect barriers in order to prevent vehicles from driving through the store’s plate glass - window.” I d. The supreme court quoted Schatz v. 7-Eleven Inc., 128 So.2d 901, 904 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1961), as follows:

It cannot be contended with any degree of reason-or logic that the, owner of a store, by failing to erect an impregnable barrier between the entrance of his store and an adjacent area where motor vehicles are driven and parked, should have anticipated that automobiles will be *1032 negligently propelled over the curb and across the sidewalk into the entrance of his store. If as a matter of law such occurrences are ... to be guarded against, there would be no limitation on the duty owed by the owners of establishments into which people are invited to enter.

¶ 11. In Heard,

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Related

Carpenter v. STOP-N-GO MARKETS OF GA.
512 So. 2d 708 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1987)
Rod v. Home Depot USA, Inc.
931 So. 2d 692 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2006)
Byrne v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
877 So. 2d 462 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2003)
Heard v. Intervest Corp.
856 So. 2d 359 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2003)
Palmer v. Volkswagen of America, Inc.
905 So. 2d 564 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2003)
City of Jackson v. Sutton
797 So. 2d 977 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2001)
Owens v. Thomae
759 So. 2d 1117 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1999)
Schatz v. 7-Eleven, Inc.
128 So. 2d 901 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1961)
Kenyatta Donta Cheeks v. AutoZone, Inc.
154 So. 3d 817 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2014)
Karpinsky v. American National Insurance Co.
109 So. 3d 84 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2013)
Blount v. Pantry, Inc.
936 So. 2d 967 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2006)

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Bluebook (online)
185 So. 3d 1028, 2015 Miss. App. LEXIS 17, 2015 WL 148915, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/khambraya-stanley-v-scott-petroleum-corporation-missctapp-2015.