City of New Smyrna Beach Utilities Com'n v. McWhorter, 60961
| Decision Date | 29 July 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 60961,60961 |
| Citation | 418 So.2d 261 |
| Parties | CITY OF NEW SMYRNA BEACH UTILITIES COMMISSION, Petitioner, v. Robert McWHORTER, Respondent. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Jacqueline R. Griffin of Dempsey & Slaughter, Orlando, for petitioner.
Judson I. Woods, Jr., of Woods & Watson, New Smyrna Beach, for respondent.
We have for review McWhorter v. City of New Smyrna Beach Utilities Commission, 400 So.2d 23 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981), because of conflict with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Hughes Supply, Inc., 358 So.2d 1339 (Fla.1978). We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(3), Florida Constitution, and quash the holding of the district court.
In April 1978 an accumulation of paper, of unknown origin, caused an obstruction in a New Smyrna Beach main sewer line at a point near the McWhorter residence. This blockage impeded the normal flow of sewage, and sewage and water backed up through the McWhorter's lateral line and flooded into their house, causing extensive damage. The McWhorters filed suit against the city for damages, pleading estoppel, negligence, nuisance, trespass, and contract in a single-count complaint. Refusing to give requested instructions on res ipsa loquitur, nuisance, trespass, or estoppel, the circuit court instructed the jury only on simple negligence. The jury returned a verdict for the city. On appeal, the Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed and remanded for a new trial, finding that the McWhorters had established the elements of res ipsa loquitur and should have benefitted from an instruction on that theory.
The issue before this Court is whether the district court correctly ruled that the circuit court's failure to give jury instructions on res ipsa loquitur constituted reversible error. We must answer in the negative, finding that the district court misapplied the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur as discussed in Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Hughes Supply, Inc., 358 So.2d 1339 (Fla.1978).
In Goodyear, which involved the applicability of res ipsa loquitur to "exploding tire" cases, this Court set forth the essential elements of the doctrine, stating:
The time seems propitious simply to address the dimensions of the doctrine head-on, and in so doing to restore the inference of negligence to its historically proper bounds--that is, when direct evidence of negligence is unavailable to the plaintiff due to the unusual circumstances of the injuring incident.
Res ipsa loquitur--"the thing speaks for itself"--is a doctrine of extremely limited applicability. It provides an injured plaintiff with a common-sense inference of negligence where direct proof of negligence is wanting, provided certain elements consistent with negligent behavior are present. Essentially, the injured plaintiff must establish that the instrumentality causing his or her injury was under the exclusive control of the defendant, and that the accident is one that would not, in the ordinary course of events, have occurred without negligence on the part of the one in control.
Id. at 1341-42 (footnotes omitted).
Given the restrictive nature of the doctrine, a court should never lightly provide this inference of negligence. Rather, it is incumbent upon the plaintiff to present his or her case in a manner which demonstrates and satisfies each of the doctrine's requisite elements and only after the plaintiff carries this burden of proof may a court supply the inference. As we stated in Goodyear :
Plainly, the threshold inquiry is whether that which occurred is a phenomenon which does not ordinarily happen except in the absence of due care. The initial burden is on the plaintiff to establish that the circumstances attendant to the injury are such that, in the light of past experience, negligence is the probable cause and the defendant is the probable actor. An injury standing alone, of course, ordinarily does not indicate negligence. The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur simply recognizes that in rare instances an injury may permit an inference of negligence if coupled with a sufficient showing of its immediate, precipitating cause.
Id. at 1342 (footnote omitted).
At the risk of redundancy, we would add that res ipsa loquitur is applicable only if all of its requisite elements are present in a given case. Consequently, the McWhorters could benefit from the doctrine only if they had shown that: 1) direct evidence of the city's negligence was unavailable; 2) the line ordinarily would not have become obstructed and that the sewage ordinarily would not have flooded their home absent negligence by the city; and 3) the main sewer line and all that entered it was under the exclusive control of the city. The McWhorters, however, failed to allege, much less prove, any of the above. Rather, the record reveals that at trial, the McWhorters showed only the occurrence and results of the city line stoppage, asserting that, since they in no way caused or were responsible for the obstruction, the damage-causing obstruction could only have been the product of negligent and improper maintenance by the city. By so limiting their presentation of evidence, the McWhorters failed to carry their initial burden of proof and neglected to demonstrate the necessary elements of the doctrine. This oversight alone precludes application of res ipsa loquitur and proves fatal to their cause.
Moreover, in contrast to the McWhorters' virtual inaction at trial, the city actively presented evidence which emphasized the inapplicability of res ipsa loquitur to this case. In demonstrating that externally introduced objects frequently cause line blockages despite reasonable preventative safeguards, the city effectively undercut any argument that a sewage back-up such as that which injured the McWhorters was of such an extraordinary nature as to preclude any cause other than the city's negligence. Additionally, the city produced detailed testimony relative to its own, as well as other cities', sewer line experiences and maintenance procedures and adduced evidence that the New Smyrna Beach sewer lines...
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