Mayfield v. the Hairbender

903 So. 2d 733, 2005 Miss. LEXIS 358, 2005 WL 1385125
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedJune 2, 2005
Docket2204-CA-00471-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by54 cases

This text of 903 So. 2d 733 (Mayfield v. the Hairbender) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mayfield v. the Hairbender, 903 So. 2d 733, 2005 Miss. LEXIS 358, 2005 WL 1385125 (Mich. 2005).

Opinion

903 So.2d 733 (2005)

Anita MAYFIELD
v.
THE HAIRBENDER.

No. 2204-CA-00471-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

June 2, 2005.

*734 Gregory W. Harbison, Tupelo, attorney for appellant.

Goodloe Tankersley Lewis, Oxford, attorney for appellee.

EN BANC.

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

DICKINSON, Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. The motion for rehearing is denied. The original opinion is withdrawn, and this opinion is substituted therefor.

¶ 2. In this trip and fall case, we are asked to clarify whether a plaintiff may pursue a claim of negligent failure to repair a dangerous condition that is open and obvious.

BACKGROUND FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

¶ 3. While descending the stairs from The Hairbender salon after making a delivery, Anita Mayfield tripped on pavement she described as "broken, unlevel pavement" which was "pushed up, probably jutted up two inches over the bottom step." Mayfield filed suit against The Hairbender in the Circuit Court of Calhoun County, Mississippi, claiming that The Hairbender was negligent both by failing to repair the pavement where she tripped and in failing to adequately warn her of the broken, raised pavement.

*735 ¶ 4. The Hairbender filed a motion for summary judgment, claiming that the broken portion of pavement was in "plain view" and that, in any case, Mayfield was aware of it. The Hairbender further claimed its only duty was to warn of dangers not in plain view and that under Mississippi law an owner or occupier of premises is not liable for injuries resulting from a dangerous condition which was open and obvious and of which the invitee was aware.

¶ 5. The trial court granted The Hairbender's motion for summary judgment, and Mayfield now appeals.

ANALYSIS

¶ 6. This Court reviews summary judgments de novo. Massey v. Tingle, 867 So.2d 235, 238 (Miss.2004) (citing Hardy v. Brock, 826 So.2d 71, 74 (Miss.2002); Heirs & Wrongful Death Beneficiaries of Branning ex rel. Tucker v. Hinds Cmty. Coll. Dist., 743 So.2d 311, 314 (Miss.1999)). The facts are viewed in light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Id. (citing Robinson v. Singing River Hosp. Sys., 732 So.2d 204, 207 (Miss.1999)). The existence of a genuine issue of material fact will preclude summary judgment. Id. The non-moving party may not rest upon allegations or denials in the pleadings but must set forth specific facts showing that there are genuine issues of fact for trial. Id. (citing Richmond v. Benchmark Constr. Corp., 692 So.2d 60, 61 (Miss.1997)).

¶ 7. Mayfield claims that The Hairbender was negligent in two way; first, in failing to properly maintain and repair the pavement, and second, in failing to warn her of the danger.

¶ 8. The Hairbender asserts that, as a matter of law, "an open and obvious hazard is not `unreasonably dangerous'." The Hairbender further argues that this Court recognize two separate "causes of action," one for negligence and the other for failure to warn, would be a "significant change in Mississippi Law as to the duties and obligations of landowners." The Hairbender predicts a "minor revolution in the jurisprudence of this State which [would place] additional burdens on its business owners."

¶ 9. After careful review of The Hairbender's argument and the relevant law, we conclude The Hairbender's unfounded alarm springs from two sources. First, as we explain infra, The Hairbenders is of the mistaken impression that a Court of Appeals decision can preempt or overrule a prior decision of this Court. Second, The Hairbender mistakenly concludes that Mayfield's two theories of negligence are considered two separate causes of action. We note that, even if The Hairbender were correct on this point, it would make little difference in the terminology and no difference in the analysis. A plaintiff pursuing two theories of negligence should expect the same result as a plaintiff pursuing two separate causes of action; one for negligent failure to repair a dangerous condition, and the other for negligent failure to warn. The difference amounts to labeling.

¶ 10. We shall now proceed to examine both of Mayfield's negligence theories.

i. Negligent Failure to Warn and the "Open and Obvious" Danger Theory

¶ 11. Responding to Mayfield's claim that it negligently failed to warn her of the dangerous condition at the bottom of the steps, The Hairbender correctly states it had no duty to warn of the alleged hazard because it was open, obvious and known to Mayfield prior to her injury. The Hairbender cites Wilson v. Allday, 487 So.2d 793 (Miss.1986), in which this Court stated:

The established law in this state is that the owner, occupant or person in *736 charge of premises owes to an invitee or business visitor a duty of exercising reasonable or ordinary care to keep the premises in reasonably safe and suitable condition or[1] of warning [the] invitee of dangerous conditions not readily apparent which [the] owner knows or should know of in the exercise of reasonable care. However, the owner, occupant or person in charge of property is not an insurer of the safety of an invitee — where the invitee knows or should know of an apparent danger, no warning is required.

Id. at 795-96 (citing Downs v. Corder, 377 So.2d 603 (Miss.1979); J.C. Penney Co. v. Sumrall, 318 So.2d 829 (Miss.1975); Jackson Ready-Mix Concrete v. Sexton, 235 So.2d 267 (Miss.1970)); 65 C.J.S. Negligence § 63(45)(1966) (emphasis added).

¶ 12. The final sentence of the passage is a correct statement of our current law regarding the duty to warn of known or apparent dangers. We addressed the issue in Vaughn v. Ambrosino, 883 So.2d 1167, 1170 (Miss.2004):

With respect to the [failure to warn claim], however, it would be strange logic that found it reasonable to allow a plaintiff to pursue a claim against a defendant for failure to warn of an open an obvious danger. One would struggle, indeed, to justify the need to warn a plaintiff of that which was open an obvious. Stated differently, a warning of an open and obvious danger would provide no new information to the plaintiff. Stated still another way, a thing warned of is either already known to the plaintiff, or it's not. If it's already known to the plaintiff, then the warning serves no purpose. If it is not already known to the plaintiff, then the thing warned of was not open and obvious in the first instance. Thus, an invitee may not recover for failure to warn of an open and obvious danger.

Id. at 1170-71.

¶ 13. The uneven pavement outside of The Hairbender was an open and obvious danger. Mayfield admitted as much in her deposition. She testified that she had "probably" been to The Hairbender six or seven times before this incident and that she had seen the unlevel pavement. She also testified that she pointed out the condition of the pavement to one of her co-workers and commented that it was dangerous. She further admitted that at the time of the accident she was aware of the broken pavement and that she knew she needed to be careful when she walked over it.

¶ 14. It is clear that the condition of the pavement was open and obvious and in plain view. All that is required to negate the duty to warn is that the danger be open and obvious, suggesting that the plaintiff either knew or should have known of it. Here, the undisputed evidence established not only that the hazard was open and obvious, but also that Mayfield actually knew of the danger.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
903 So. 2d 733, 2005 Miss. LEXIS 358, 2005 WL 1385125, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mayfield-v-the-hairbender-miss-2005.