Piggly Wiggly of Greenwood, Inc. v. Fipps

809 So. 2d 722, 2001 WL 1572299
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 11, 2001
Docket2000-CA-00426-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 809 So. 2d 722 (Piggly Wiggly of Greenwood, Inc. v. Fipps) 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
Piggly Wiggly of Greenwood, Inc. v. Fipps, 809 So. 2d 722, 2001 WL 1572299 (Mich. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

809 So.2d 722 (2001)

PIGGLY WIGGLY OF GREENWOOD, INC. and Ricky Harvey, Agent, Servant, and Employee of Piggly Wiggly of Greenwood, Inc., Appellants,
v.
Florida FIPPS, Appellee.

No. 2000-CA-00426-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

December 11, 2001.
Rehearing Denied March 5, 2002.

*724 Richard L. Kimmel, Greenwood, Steven Cavitt Cookston, Chadwick Lester Shook, Attorneys for Appellant.

Ellis Turnage, Cleveland, Attorney for Appellee.

Before SOUTHWICK, P.J., IRVING, and MYERS, JJ.

MYERS, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Florida Fipps slipped and fell while shopping in a Piggly Wiggly in Greenwood. Ms. Fipps fell when she stepped into a puddle of vomit which was on the floor. The jury awarded Ms. Fipps $200,000 for damages but reduced the amount to $100,000 per her own negligence. After the court denied the various motions offered by the defense, the defendants perfected this appeal.

¶ 2. Piggly Wiggly and Ricky Harvey's issues are whether the trial court erred when it denied Appellants' motions for summary judgment, directed verdict, JNOV, in limine. Also, whether it erred in refusing to allow the warning sign into evidence and in denying Appellants' motion for remittitur. Finding that the trial court committed no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 3. Fipps broke her leg on November 7, 1996, in Piggly Wiggly by falling in a puddle of vomit located on the floor. The puddle of vomit was marked by the security guard on duty upon his noticing it. The manager on duty was Ricky Harvey and he was notified of the vomit by his security guard. The crux of the dispute lies in the question of the amount of time the vomit was on the floor before the store acted upon it.

¶ 4. The stories offered by either side conflict regarding the length of time that the vomit was on the floor prior to action by the store. Testimony was offered by Fipps's friend, Cora Roberts, in which she claimed that she saw the vomit on the floor some twenty minutes before Fipps slipped and fell in it. The store offered the testimony of the security guard who claimed to have repeatedly walked the store on his security route. He testified that each of these sweeps took approximately five minutes. He said there was no vomit on the floor during the security sweep immediately before the fall. When he did see the vomit, he placed a yellow warning sign near it and then went to alert management. The security guard testified that his actions, including his return to the spot, where Fipps had by then, already fallen, took less than five minutes. By the time the security guard and an employee returned to the scene, Fipps was on the floor. Roberts could not remember seeing a warning sign in the vicinity of the vomit.

¶ 5. Less than two weeks later, while at home recuperating from her fall at Piggly Wiggly, Fipps reinjured her leg and was taken to the emergency room where she received care from Dr. Sandifer, an orthopedist. Weeks later, she was found to have a pulmonary embolus. Her regular doctor, Dr. Shah, treated Fipps for the blood clot. This blood clot was never proven to be the result of Fipps' initial fall in the Piggly Wiggly. Fipps did not call Dr. Shah to testify regarding the causes of the pulmonary embolus, thus leaving only Dr. Sandifer to be cross-examined regarding Fipps' stay in the hospital. Fipps returned to Dr. Sandifer in February of 1997 for her three-month post-surgery examination *725 at which time he found her femur fully healed.

¶ 6. At trial, Piggly Wiggly tried to enter the warning sign allegedly placed near the puddle by the security guard. Fipps' attorney vehemently objected to its introduction due to the fact that the sign was not listed in the pretrial order. He also asserted that the sign in the court room was not the same sign described by the security guard in his deposition because the dimensions were different. The judge excluded the warning sign.

¶ 7. All of these questionable and conflicting facts were placed before the jury for consideration. Ms. Fipps suffered actual damages in the form of a broken femur and $11,509 in medical bills. Fipps was awarded a total of $100,000 by the jury.

¶ 8. At the end of trial, Piggly Wiggly and Ricky Harvey combined their motions to (1) renew motion for directed verdict; (2) set aside jury verdict and vacate judgment; (3)judgment notwithstanding the verdict; or in the alternative for (4) a new trial; or in the alternative to (5) alter or amend judgment/for remittitur. All of which were denied by the trial court.

STANDARDS OF REVIEW

¶ 9. Our standard of review for summary judgment and directed verdicts is de novo.

Summary Judgment may be appropriately entered by a trial court "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 law." All that is required of a nonmoving party to survive a motion for summary judgment is to establish a genuine issue of material fact by the means available under ... Miss. R. Civ. P. 56(c).

Singleton v. Ratliff, 757 So.2d 1098 (¶ 6) (Miss.Ct.App.1999) (quoting Spartan Foods Sys., Inc., v. American Nat'l Ins. Co., 582 So.2d 399, 402 (Miss.1991)). Directed verdicts and new trial motions are explained in the following quote:

On a motion for a directed verdict the court "must consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the party opposed to the motion." Rester v. Morrow, 491 So.2d 204, 211-12 (Miss.1986). A motion for a new trial is addressed to the sound discretion of the circuit judge, and may be granted when the verdict of the jury "is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence." Bobby Kitchens v. Mississippi Insurance Guar. Ass'n, 560 So.2d 129, 132 (Miss.1989).

Caruso v. Picayune Pizza Hut, Inc., 598 So.2d 770, 773 (Miss.1992).

¶ 10. Once a jury has returned a verdict in a civil case, a court cannot enter a new judgment contrary to that of the jury unless it is clearly demonstrated that, as a matter of law, the evidence as a whole considered in a light most favorable to the verdict, would not allow a reasonable hypothetical juror to find as the jury found. Bell v. City of Bay St. Louis, 467 So.2d 657, 660 (Miss.1985). This Court will not overturn the verdict of the jury unless it is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.

¶ 11. Next we must consider Piggly Wiggly's motion for a JNOV or motion for a new trial. Motions for a new trial challenge the overall weight of the evidence and a judgment notwithstanding the verdict challenges the legal sufficiency of the evidence. Perkins v. State, 788 So.2d 826, 829 (Miss.Ct.App.2001). A motion for a new trial implicates the discretion of the judge and will not be reversed *726 unless the trial judge abused her discretion. Id. Likewise, the denial of a JNOV will not be reversed unless in reviewing all the evidence a reasonable fair-minded juror would reach a different verdict.

¶ 12. Fipps needed to show that Piggly Wiggly had been negligent. When discerning if a business owner is liable for a hazard we evaluate the claim using the following elements. The first element is that some negligent act by the store caused her injury; or secondly she must show that Piggly Wiggly had actual knowledge of the dangerous condition but failed to adequately warn Fipps.

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

Related

Franklin Collection Service, Inc. v. Gwenlyn M. Collins
206 So. 3d 1282 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2016)
Jeanette B. Ringo v. Lela Wilson
204 So. 3d 827 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2016)
Pierce v. Gibson
106 So. 3d 882 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2013)
Stribling v. Rushing's, Inc.
115 So. 3d 103 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2013)
Lee v. G & K Services, Co.
98 So. 3d 489 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2012)
Miller v. Myers
38 So. 3d 648 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2010)
Stanley v. Boyd Tunica, Inc.
29 So. 3d 95 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2010)
Hodges v. Lucas
904 So. 2d 1098 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2004)
Curtis v. Carter
906 So. 2d 5 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2004)
Jamison v. Kilgore
905 So. 2d 610 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2004)
McIntosh v. Victoria Corp.
877 So. 2d 519 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2004)
Byrne v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
877 So. 2d 462 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
809 So. 2d 722, 2001 WL 1572299, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/piggly-wiggly-of-greenwood-inc-v-fipps-missctapp-2001.