Robert King, Jr. v. Rocktenn CP LLC

643 F. App'x 180
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedMarch 4, 2016
Docket15-2300
StatusUnpublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 643 F. App'x 180 (Robert King, Jr. v. Rocktenn CP LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robert King, Jr. v. Rocktenn CP LLC, 643 F. App'x 180 (3d Cir. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION *

JORDAN, Circuit Judge.

Robert King, Jr. (“King”) appeals an order of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granting summary judgment for defendant Rocktenn, CP LLC (“Rocktenn”). We will affirm.

I. Background 1

In the early morning of January 28, 2011, King slipped and fell while working at 9820 Blue Grass Road in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (the “premises”), a truck yard owned by Rocktenn. At that time, King was working for Lily Transportation as a “yard jockey,” responsible for hooking trailers to tractors, and unhooking them, and moving them in and out of loading docks. Throughout his tenure at Lily Transportation, King worked exclusively at the premises. At all relevant times, he was there as a business invitee.

Shortly before the accident, on January 26, 2011, a foot of snow fell in Philadelphia. On the afternoon of January 27, King began his shift and was scheduled to work overnight until 6:00 a.m. on the 28th. Upon arriving, he inspected the yard and found it had been plowed but that there was still some snow and ice, including between some of the trailers. King did not, *182 however, see any of it around the area between trailers five and six. He concluded that the premises were “safe enough for [him] to do [his] job.” (A129.) Sometime before 6:00 a.m., King was tasked with moving the trailer positioned at door six of the loading dock, which required him to hook that trailer-onto a tractor. To do so, King had to pass between trailers five and six for the first time that shift. As he passed, King had his hand on a “hold bar” for stability, but slipped and landed on his backside. (A130-34.) In the course of his fall, he shifted all his weight onto the arm he was using to grasp the “hold bar,” thus injuring his shoulder. (Id.) King completed his shift, including some overtime, and then sought medical attention. Although initially diagnosed as a sprain, King’s injury was ultimately determined to be more serious, and he had surgery on his shoulder to correct it.

In January 2012, King filed suit in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County against Rocktenn and a number of other defendants alleging, inter alia, negligence in permitting dangerous conditions to persist on the premises. 2 He later amended his complaint, naming only Rock-tenn as a defendant but maintaining a similar theory of liability. Rocktenn removed the case to federal court in November 2013. Following discovery, Rocktenn moved for summary judgment, and the District Court granted that motion.

This timely appeal followed.

II. Discussion 3

We exercise plenary review over a District Court’s grant of summary judgment. Santini v. Fuentes, 795 F.3d 410, 416 (3d Cir.2015). “Our review is identical to the review performed by the district court.” Id. “Summary judgment is proper if there is no genuine issue of material fact and if, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Smathers v. Multi-Tool, Inc./Multi-Plastics, Inc. Employee Health & Welfare Plan, 298 F.3d 191, 194 (3d Cir.2002).

As our jurisdiction in this case is based on diversity of citizenship, our review applies the substantive law' of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Sheridan v. NGK Metals Corp., 609 F.3d 239, 253 (3d Cir.2010) In Pennsylvania, according to the case of Carrender v. Fitterer, “[t]he standard of care a possessor of land owes to one who enters upon the land depends upon whether the person entering is a trespassor, licensee, or invitee.” 503 Pa. 178, 469 A.2d 120, 123 (1983). It is undisputed that King was a business invitee at the time of the incident. “A possessor of land is subject to liability for physical harm caused to his invitees by a condition on the land if, but only if, he (a) knows or by the exercise of reasonable care would discover the condition and should realize that it involves an unreasonable risk of harm to such invitees, and (b) should expect that they will not discover or realize the danger, or will fail to protect themselves against it, and (c) fails to exercise reasonable care to protect them against the danger.” Atkins v. Urban Redevelopment Auth. of Pittsburgh, 489 Pa. 344, 414 A.2d 100, 103-04 (1980) (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts § 343 (1965)).

Against the backdrop of this liability, however, is the rule that “ ‘[a] possessor of *183 land is not liable to his invitees for physical harm caused to them by any activity or condition on the land whose danger is known or obvious to them — ’” Carrender, 469 A.2d at 123 (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts § 343 (1965)). This test is disjunctive. “For a danger to be ‘known,’ it must ‘not only be known to exist, but ... also be recognized that it is dangerous and the probability and gravity of the threatened harm must be appreciated.’ ” Id. at 124. “A danger is deemed to be ‘obvious’ when ‘both the condition and the risk are apparent to and would be recognized by a reasonable man, in the position of the visitor, exercising normal perception, intelligence, and judgment.’” Id. at 123; see also Atkins, 414 A.2d at 104 (“[T]he law of Pennsylvania does not impose liability if it is reásonable for the possessor to believe that the dangerous condition would be obvious to and discovered by his invitee.”).

Here, King seizes on the District Court’s reliance on Carrender to draw what he avers is a critical distinction — that the plaintiff in that case, unlike King himself, had actual knowledge of the icy conditions at the specific location where she fell. Because King did not have knowledge of ice in the exact location where he fell, he argues that he could not have assumed the risk of a fall and injury. That position, however, ignores both the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s jurisprudence regarding what constitutes “knowledge” and the disjunctive nature of the “known or obvious” test.

In Atkins v. Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, a plaintiff, while inspecting a house slated for demolition, fell down a set of stairs due to a missing second stair. 414 A.2d at 102. He testified at trial that he did not know the second stair was missing, yet the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found no , duty on the part of the property owner, and thus no liability. Id. at 105.

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643 F. App'x 180, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robert-king-jr-v-rocktenn-cp-llc-ca3-2016.