Marriott International, Inc. v. Perez-Melendez

855 So. 2d 624, 2003 WL 21713741
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedSeptember 26, 2003
Docket5D02-1624
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 855 So. 2d 624 (Marriott International, Inc. v. Perez-Melendez) 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
Marriott International, Inc. v. Perez-Melendez, 855 So. 2d 624, 2003 WL 21713741 (Fla. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

855 So.2d 624 (2003)

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC., Appellant/Cross-Appellee,
v.
Zaria PEREZ-MELENDEZ, Appellee/Cross-Appellant.

No. 5D02-1624.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

July 25, 2003.
Opinion Denying Rehearing, Clarification and Certification September 26, 2003.

*625 Marie A. Borland of Hill, Ward & Henderson, P.A., Tampa and John H. Ward of Brown, Ward, Salzman & Weiss, Orlando, for Appellant/Cross-Appellee.

Elizabeth H. Faiella of Elizabeth H. Faiella, P.A., Winter Park and Marcia K. Lippincott of Marcia K. Lippincott, P.A., Lake Mary, for Appellee/Cross-Appellant.

SAWAYA, C.J.

Marriott International, Inc., (Marriott) appeals a final judgment entered in favor of Zaira Perez-Melendez (Perez-Melendez) based on a jury verdict awarding Perez-Melendez damages for the injuries she sustained when she fell into a drain inlet located on property owned by Marriott. The issue we will address is whether the trial court erred in failing to direct a verdict in favor of Marriott because Perez-Melendez failed to establish any negligence *626 on Marriott's part.[1] In order to resolve this issue, we will discuss in the following order the factual and procedural background of the instant case, the twoissue rule, the standard of review we must apply, and our legal analysis.

Factual And Procedural Background

Perez-Melendez, a Puerto Rico resident employed by the city of San Juan as the Director of Senior Citizens Volunteers, came to Orlando for a convention that was to be held at the Marriott World Center (hereinafter "World Center"). Perez-Melendez testified that she made reservations for a room at the World Center before leaving Puerto Rico. However, when she arrived to check in, she was advised that no more rooms were available. She was then provided accommodations at the Residence Inn, which is also owned by Marriott. The walking distance between the two hotels is approximately three-fourths of a mile.

On June 25, 2000, at approximately 10:30 p.m., Perez-Melendez, two other women, and their children decided to go from Perez-Melendez's room at the Residence Inn to the World Center. Unfortunately for Perez-Melendez, on her journey, she stepped into a drainage inlet and fractured her ankle. Perez-Melendez filed a personal injury suit against Marriott for damages. Encased within the same count of the complaint are four separate theories of liability. The first is based on the alleged active negligence of Marriott in failing to provide a reasonably safe transportation system for Perez-Melendez between the two hotels. The other three are premises liability theories based on allegations that Marriott failed to maintain its premises in a reasonably safe condition, failed to correct a dangerous condition that Marriott knew or should have known about, and failed to warn Perez-Melendez of an existing dangerous condition of which Marriott knew or should have known. We note, parenthetically, that whether it is appropriate to plead more than one theory of liability in a single count of a complaint is not an issue before us.

At the conclusion of Perez-Melendez's case-in-chief and again at the conclusion of the trial, Marriott moved for a directed verdict, alleging that Perez-Melendez had failed to establish a prima facie case of negligence. The trial court denied both motions. The jury instructions that were read to the jury instructed the jury on each theory of liability. The verdict form, submitted to the jury without objection, did not request findings as to each theory of liability; rather, it simply requested the jury to determine whether Marriott was negligent and, if so, the amount of the damages. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Perez-Melendez, finding Perez-Melendez thirty-percent comparatively negligent.

Marriott argues that as a matter of law it did not owe a duty to Perez-Melendez to provide her a reasonably safe transportation system because it was not reasonably foreseeable that she would fall into the drain inlet and injure her ankle. Marriott contends that the issue of foreseeability as it relates to establishing a duty of care is a legal issue to be decided by the court and, therefore, the trial court should have granted its motion for directed verdict. Perez-Melendez argues that the incident *627 she was involved in was foreseeable as a matter of law and Marriott did owe her a duty of care. Perez-Melendez also argues that she alleged three premises liability theories of recovery and that, pursuant to the two-issue rule, Marriott must establish that a directed verdict was appropriate for each theory alleged. Since Marriott cannot, asserts Perez-Melendez, the judgment should be affirmed.

The Two-Issue Rule

The two-issue rule provides that "where there is no proper objection to the use of a general verdict, reversal is improper where no error is found as to one of two issues submitted to the jury on the basis that the appellant is unable to establish that he has been prejudiced." Whitman v. Castlewood Int'l Corp., 383 So.2d 618, 619 (Fla.1980). The rule applies to separate theories of liability and defenses; it does not apply to the elements of a cause of action or defense. Grenitz v. Tomlian, 2003 WL 21290887 (Fla. June 5, 2003); Barth v. Khubani, 748 So.2d 260 (Fla. 1999). Hence, when a verdict is rendered in favor of the plaintiff, as in the instant case, the two-issue rule applies to actions brought on two or more theories of liability where the finding of liability as to one theory entitles the plaintiff to recover the same measure of damages recoverable under the other theories of liability. Grenitz; Barth; First Interstate Dev. Corp. v. Ablanedo, 511 So.2d 536 (Fla.1987); Johnson v. Thigpen, 788 So.2d 410 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001). In Barth, the court explained:

When a general verdict for the plaintiff is on review, the rule is applied by focusing on the causes of action, such that an appellate claim of error raised by the defendant as to one cause of action cannot be the basis for reversal where two or more theories of liability (or causes of action) were presented to the jury. 748 So.2d at 261. The burden of establishing error as to each theory of liability or defense is on the non-moving party. Barth.

For example, in Zimmer, Inc. v. Birnbaum, 758 So.2d 714 (Fla. 4th DCA), review denied, 786 So.2d 1193 (Fla.2000), the court applied the two-issue rule in a products liability case because the jury instructions included two standards for determining whether the product was unreasonably dangerous—the ordinary consumer test and the risk benefit test—and the verdict form did not require the jury to identify its basis for deciding that the product was defective. In a wrongful death action, the court in Penske Truck Leasing Co., LP v. Moore, 702 So.2d 1295 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997), applied the two-issue rule by presuming that the jury found for the plaintiffs on both theories of negligence submitted to the jury. The court reasoned that the verdict form did not request a finding based on each theory and, therefore, the court could not determine on which theory of negligence the jury based its finding of liability.

Similarly, in the instant case, Perez-Melendez filed her action based on four theories of liability. The jury instructions submitted to the jury instructed the jury on each theory of liability. Our review of the transcripts of the closing arguments clearly shows that argument on each theory of liability was presented to the jury.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation v. Mayra Avila
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2025
TEKI WILLIAMS v. JOHN WEAVER
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2024
CHARISSA FRAZIER vs PANERA, LLC
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2023
KAREN HERNANDEZ, etc. v. SHULI ANDREW MISHALI
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2021
ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES, LTD. v. LISA SPEARMAN
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2021
Trugren Landcare v. Lacapra
254 So. 3d 628 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2018)
Trainor v. PNC Bank, National Ass'n
211 So. 3d 366 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2017)
Best Drywall Services, Inc. v. Blaszczyk
207 So. 3d 271 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2016)
Wert v. Camacho
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2016
Crusselle v. Mong
59 So. 3d 1178 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2011)
Asher v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
39 So. 3d 484 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2010)
Langbehn v. PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST OF MIAMI-DADE
661 F. Supp. 2d 1326 (S.D. Florida, 2009)
Blizzard v. APPLIANCE DIRECT, INC.
16 So. 3d 922 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2009)
Etheredge v. Walt Disney World Co.
999 So. 2d 669 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2008)
LA FITNESS INTERNATIONAL, LLC. v. Mayer
980 So. 2d 550 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
855 So. 2d 624, 2003 WL 21713741, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marriott-international-inc-v-perez-melendez-fladistctapp-2003.