Peeples v. Custom Pine Straw, Inc.

174 F. Supp. 3d 1363, 2016 WL 1223346, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41108
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Georgia
DecidedMarch 29, 2016
DocketCASE NO. CV415-039
StatusPublished

This text of 174 F. Supp. 3d 1363 (Peeples v. Custom Pine Straw, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Peeples v. Custom Pine Straw, Inc., 174 F. Supp. 3d 1363, 2016 WL 1223346, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41108 (S.D. Ga. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER

WILLIAM T. MOORE, JR., UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

■ Before the Court is Defendants’ Motion fór Summary Judgment. (Doc. 13.) For the following reasons, Defendants’ motion is GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to close this case.

BACKGROUND

This case involves1 an injury Plaintiff2 Raymond T. Peeples suffered while working at a Lowe’s Home Improvement store. On June 15, 2012, Defendant Custom Pine Straw (“CPS”) delivered a load of pine straw to the Lowe’s storein Pooler, Georgia. (Doc. 17 at 1-2.) Defendant CPS loaded the pine straw on a trailer and transported it 215 miles from Branford, Florida. (Id. at 1-2, 9.) Defendant CPS left the trailer in the Lowe’s parking lot, adjacent to the store’s garden center, where the pine straw was available for purchase. (Id. at 2.)

On June 28, 2012, Plaintiff was assisting a customer with the selection of grass sod. (Id.) Lowe’s stored the sod underneath Defendant CPS’s trailer to protect the sod from the extreme summer heat. (Id. at 2-3.) Plaintiff was kneeling beneath the trailer when its front, outer tire exploded. (Id. at 3.) Defendant was around five feet from the tire at the time of the explosion. (Id.) The violent nature of the explosion caused Defendant to strike his head on the underside of the trailer, and suffer hearing loss and tinnitus.3

Based on the explosion, Plaintiff filed a complaint in the State. Court of Chatham County. (Doc. 1, Ex. A.) Defendants invoked this Court’s diversity jurisdiction and timely removed the complaint to this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332. (Doc. 1.) In his complaint, Plaintiff alleges that his injuries — permanent hearing loss and [1365]*1365tinnitus — were caused by Defendant CPS’s negligence. (Doc. 1, Ex. A ¶ 30-33.) Also, Plaintiff brings a “Direct Action” for insurance coverage against Defendant CPS’s Insurer — Defendant Westfield Insurance Company (“Westfield”). (Id ¶¶ 38-41.).

In their Motion for Summary Judgment, Defendants argue that Plaintiff has failed to present any evidence that Defendant CPS breached any duty owed to Plaintiff. (Doc. 13, Attach. 1 at 7.) Specifically, Defendants maintain that there is no evidence in the record as to the cause of the tire explosion. (Id at 5-7.) In response, Plaintiff generally asserts that there was no evidence to suggest that the explosion was caused by anything other than incorrect tire maintenance by Defendant combined with the heat of the asphalt in the Lowe’s parking lot. (Doc. 18 at 5-7.)

ANALYSIS ‘

I. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Summary judgment shall be rendered “if 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 a judgment as a matter of lawi” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c).' The “purpose of summary judgment is to ‘pierce the pleadings and to assess the proof in order to see whether there is a genuine need for trial.’ ” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 advisory committee notes). Summary judgment is appropriate when the nonmovant “fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The substantive law governing the action determines whether an element is essential. DeLong Equip. Co. v. Wash. Mills Abrasive Co., 887 F.2d 1499, 1505 (11th Cir.1989).

As the Supreme Court explained:

[A] party seeking summary judgment always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.

Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The burden then shifts to the nonmovant to establish, by going beyond the pleadings, that there , is a genuine issue as to facts material to the nonmovant’s case. Clark v. Coats & Clark, Inc., 929 F.2d 604, 608 (11th Cir.1991), The Court must review the evidence and all reasonable factual inferences arising from it in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 587-88, 106 S.Ct. 1348. However, the nonmoving party “must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Id. at 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348. A mere “scintilla” of evidence, or simply concluso-ry allegations, will not suffice. See, e.g., Tidwell v. Carter Prods., 135 F.3d 1422, 1425 (11th Cir.1998). Nevertheless, where a reasonable fact finder may “draw more than one inference from the facts, and that inference creates a genuine issue of material fact, then the Court should refuse to grant summary judgment.” Barfield v. Brierton, 883 F.2d. 923, 933-34 (11th Cir.1989).

II. DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Plaintiff must satisfy four elements to prove a claim for negligence: (1) a legal [1366]*1366duty to conform to a standard of conduct; (2) a breach of that duty; (3) an injury; and (4) some causal connection between the breach and the injury. Heston v. Lilly, 248 Ga.App. 856, 857-58, 546 S.E.2d 816, 818 (2001) (quoting Bradley Ctr., Inc. v. Wessner, 250 Ga. 199, 200, 296 S.E.2d 693, 695 (1982)). In this case, there is no evidence that Defendant breached any duty owed to Plaintiff. The entirety of Plaintiffs evidence can be summarized as follows: Defendant CPS delivered the trailer, a tire on the trailer exploded after sitting in the parking lot for thirteen days, and Plaintiff believes that the tire explosion could only have been caused by Defendant CPS’s failure to adequately maintain the tire. However, Plaintiffs mere opinion that there appeared to be no other cause than an improperly maintained tire on a hot asphalt parking lot falls woefully short of establishing that a breach of some duty by Defendant CPS caused the explosion. No reasonable jury would be entitled to rely on such rank speculation to find Defendant CPS negligent.

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Bluebook (online)
174 F. Supp. 3d 1363, 2016 WL 1223346, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41108, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peeples-v-custom-pine-straw-inc-gasd-2016.