Weber v. Ray Brandt Nissan, Inc.

880 So. 2d 999, 2004 La.App. 4 Cir. 0004, 2004 La. App. LEXIS 2031, 2004 WL 1945306
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 18, 2004
DocketNo. 2004-CA-0004
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 880 So. 2d 999 (Weber v. Ray Brandt Nissan, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Weber v. Ray Brandt Nissan, Inc., 880 So. 2d 999, 2004 La.App. 4 Cir. 0004, 2004 La. App. LEXIS 2031, 2004 WL 1945306 (La. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

JjLEON A. CANNIZZARO, JR., Judge.

This appeal arises out of a claim filed by Rosalyn M. Weber and her husband, Jay Weber, against Ray Brandt Nissan, Inc., its insurer, New Hampshire Insurance Company, and the Debartolo Capital Partnership in connection with a fall suffered by Mrs. Weber in the New Orleans Center Shopping Mall owned by Debartolo1. Ray Brandt and New Hampshire filed a motion for summary judgment, which was granted by the trial court. The trial court dismissed Ray Brandt and New Hampshire from the case, and the Webers are appealing the trial court’s decision.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

This case involves a “slip and fall” by Mrs. Weber on the premises of the New Orleans Center Shopping Mall. Mrs. Weber alleged that she fell because of a wax build-up or a residue of a waxy substance, such as Armor All,2 that she |2understood to have been left on the floor in the area of the mall where she fell as a result of an automobile display.

On the day that she fell, Mrs. Weber went to Macy’s Department Store in the mall to return an item that had been previously purchased there. She had just left Macy’s and walked a short distance into the mall when she fell on her buttocks. Mrs. Weber sustained injuries that she asserts were diagnosed as strains of her spine and right shoulder, a bruise on her right knee, and low back pain syndrome. Mrs. Weber has also undergone MRI3 testing related to her injuries, and the results of the testing showed a problem that may require surgery. Mrs. Weber has alleged that she is in continuing pain as a result of her injuries.

Because she did not want anyone else to fall, Mrs. Weber promptly alerted a security guard at the mall that she had fallen on a slippery area. An inspection report was prepared by another employee of the security company, and in the report there was [1001]*1001a notation that described the “Injury-Scene Surface Condition” with the words “slippery substance.”

During the discovery process in this case prior to the hearing on the motion for summary judgment, Mrs. Weber learned that an automobile owned by Ray Brandt was displayed in the area where she fell for approximately three months prior to her fall. The display had been removed from the mall just prior to the opening of the mall on the morning that Mrs. Weber fell. According to the deposition of the Ray Brandt employee who delivered the automobile owned by |sRay Brandt to the mall and who removed it from the mall three months later, neither the automobile nor the space that it occupied in the mall was ever cleaned by Ray Brandt either before, during, or after the display. He also stated in his deposition that when the automobile was removed from the mall, the space that it had occupied was “pretty dusty.” The Ray Brandt employee testified that no Armor All or liquids were ever used on the automobile while it was at the mall. Further, he testified that when the car was removed from the mall, there was nothing but dust and dirt in the area of the mall where the automobile had been.

In Mrs. Weber’s deposition, she testified that “[tjhere was something on the floor” of the mall when she fell, but she also testified that she did not see anything on the floor before or after she fell. She furthered testified that she could not describe either the color or smell of the substance on the floor, but she said that she realized that there was a substance on the floor “when I slipped and fell.”

After Mrs. Weber had given the information regarding her fall to the security guard who was assigned to make a report of the accident, she went to her place of employment. After she had been at work for a while, she began to “feel tightness” related to her accident. Approximately two days after her fall, Mrs. Weber consulted a physician regarding her injuries from the fall.

After a hearing, the trial court granted a summary judgment in favor of Ray Brandt and its insurer, New Hampshire. The Webers are now appealing that judgment.

) ¿DISCUSSION

Standard of Review

In Independent Fire Insurance Co. v. Sunbeam Corp., 99-2181, 99-2257 (La.2/29/00), 755 So.2d 226, the Louisiana Supreme Court discussed the standard of review of a summary judgment as follows:

Our review of a grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment is de novo. Schroeder v. Board of Sup’rs of Louisiana State University, 591 So.2d 342 (La.1991). A motion for summary judgment will be granted “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 material fact, and that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” La. C.C.P. art. 966(B). This article was amended in 1996 to provide that “summary judgment procedure is designed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action....” La. C.C.P. art. 966(A)(2). In 1997, the article was further amended to specifically alter the burden of proof in summary judgment proceedings as follows: The burden of proof remains with the mov-ant. Thereafter, if the adverse party fails to produce factual support sufficient to establish that he will be able to satisfy his evidentiary burden of proof at trial, there is no genuine issue of material fact. La. C.C.P. art. 966(C)(2).

[1002]*100299-2181, 99-2257, p. 7, 755 So.2d at 230-31. See also Shelton v. Standard/700 Associates, 2001-0587 (La.10/16/01), 798 So.2d 60.

Assignments of Error

The Webers have made three assignments of error. First, they contend that the trial court erred in granting a summary judgment on insufficient evidence and subjective facts. Second, they contend that the trial court erred in not finding that Ray Brandt’s failure to act in a “reasonable manner” under the provisions of La. |r,R.S. 9:2800.64 resulted in Mrs. Weber’s accident. Third, they contend that because there is a question of fact regarding who had custody and control of the area where Mrs. Weber fell, there is a genuine issue of material fact that must be decided at trial.

Burden of Proof

La. R.S. 9:2800.6

The plaintiff in a lawsuit involving a “slip and fall” on a merchant’s premises has the burden of proving the following elements under La. R.S. 9:2800.6(B):

(1) The condition presented an unreasonable risk of harm to the claimant and that risk of harm was reasonably foreseeable.
(2) The merchant either created or had actual or constructive notice of the condition which caused the damage, prior to the occurrence.
(3) The merchant failed to exercise reasonable care. In determining reasonable care, the absence of a written or verbal uniform cleanup or safety procedure is insufficient, alone, to prove failure to exercise reasonable care.

La. R.S. 9:2800.6(C)(1) defines the “constructive notice” required by La. R.S.

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880 So. 2d 999, 2004 La.App. 4 Cir. 0004, 2004 La. App. LEXIS 2031, 2004 WL 1945306, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/weber-v-ray-brandt-nissan-inc-lactapp-2004.