CMH Homes, Inc. v. Daenen

Decision Date04 May 2000
Docket NumberNo. 98-0888,98-0888
Parties(Tex. 2000) CMH Homes, Inc. and CMH Homes, Inc. d/b/a Luv Homes, Petitioners v. Kirk Daenen, Respondent
CourtTexas Supreme Court
OPINION

Justice Owen delivered the opinion of the Court.

In this premises liability case, the plaintiff injured his back when he stepped onto unstable steps while carrying a heavy load. The issue is whether there is some evidence that the premises owner knew or had constructive knowledge of this unreasonable risk of harm because (1) the owner knew that the steps would require repair and replacement over time, (2) the owner knew that in the past, the steps had been rendered unsafe when trucks backed into them, and (3) after the steps were replaced with metal ones, they have not become unstable. The trial court rendered judgment for the plaintiff, and the court of appeals affirmed. We hold that there is no evidence that the steps posed an unreasonable risk of harm when they were installed, and there is no evidence that when the steps had become unstable, the premises owner had actual or constructive knowledge of that unreasonable risk of harm. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeals and render judgment for the premises owner.

I

CMH Homes, Inc. sells mobile homes. One of its locations is Luv Homes in Tomball, Texas. The plaintiff in this case, Kirk Daenen, had delivered mobile home parts about twenty times in the past to the supply shed at Luv Homes. The shed was a converted mobile home, and its only entrance was accessed by a stand-alone unit that had three steps leading to a platform. Daenen testified that the platform and step unit consisted of a metal frame and metal braces with wooden treads. The unit was not secured to the mobile home but was placed flush against the entrance.

Daenen explained that on the day he was injured, he had backed the bob-tail truck he was driving up to the entrance of the supply shed, covering the lower two or perhaps all three steps leading to the platform. His plan was to drop directly from the back of the truck onto the platform, which was about two and a half feet below the truck's bed. The boxes he was to unload weighed about seventy pounds each. He had no trouble unloading the first box. However, when he stepped off the back of the truck carrying the second, the step and platform unit swayed from side to side. Daenen felt a sharp pain in his back, and he dropped the box he was carrying. He then resumed unloading the truck and reported his injury to his office the next morning.

Prior to Daenen's injury, CMH had replaced the step and platform unit leading to its supply shed a number of times. There was evidence that over the course of twelve to fifteen months, the steps would become unstable due to their heavy use, and CMH would install a new unit. From time to time, the steps were also hit by trucks and were replaced if they could not be repaired. There was no evidence of how long the particular unit on which Daenen was injured had been in use, and there was no evidence that a truck had hit or damaged it.

The evidence was not entirely clear about the materials out of which the step and platform units had been made before CMH installed the one on which Daenen was injured. Witnesses referred to the previous units as "wooden." It is undisputed however that after Daenen was injured, CMH installed a unit made entirely of metal. At the time of trial, that same metal fixture had been in use for about three and a half years, had not become unstable, and had not needed replacement.

Daenen subsequently sued CMH on a premises liability theory. The jury found in his favor and awarded $853,278 in actual damages. The trial court added prejudgment interest and rendered a judgment on the verdict for Daenen against CMH in the amount of $1,043,873.10. The court of appeals affirmed that judgment. See 971 S.W.2d at 190. In this Court, CMH contends that there is no evidence to support the jury's verdict and that venue was improper in Montgomery County. We agree with CMH that the evidence presented at trial is legally insufficient to support liability and that CMH is therefore entitled to rendition of judgment in its favor. Accordingly, we do not reach the venue question, which if sustained would only result in a remand. See Bradleys' Elec., Inc. v. Cigna Lloyds Ins. Co., 995 S.W.2d 675, 677 (Tex. 1999) (explaining that generally, when a party presents multiple grounds for reversal of a judgment on appeal, appellate courts should first address issues that would require rendition); see also Lone Star Gas Co. v. Railroad Comm'n, 767 S.W.2d 709, 710-11 (Tex.1989).

II

Daenen's primary theory of premises liability is that the steps used by CMH presented an unreasonable risk of harm from the moment they were placed in front of the entrance to the supply shed and that CMH had actual knowledge of that risk. Daenen reasons that CMH knew that over time, the step and platform unit inevitably would become unstable and would have to be replaced. Daenen also points out that CMH knew that the unit could become unstable at any time if a truck hit and damaged it, and that the metal unit CMH has used since his injury has not become unstable after more than three years of use.

Daenen contends that the step and platform unit is analogous to the grape display at issue in Corbin v. Safeway Stores, Inc., 648 S.W.2d 292, 296 (Tex. 1983), in which we held that there was some evidence of a condition that presented an unreasonable risk of harm. We said in Corbin, as we have said in many cases, that when the injured party is an invitee, as Daenen was, the elements of a premises claim are:

(1) Actual or constructive knowledge of a condition on the premises by the owner or occupier;

(2) That the condition posed an unreasonable risk of harm;

(3) That the owner or occupier did not exercise reasonable care to reduce or eliminate the risk; and

(4) That the owner or occupier's failure to use such care proximately caused the plaintiff's injury.

See Corbin, 648 S.W.2d at 296; see also Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Gonzalez, 968 S.W.2d 934, 936 (Tex. 1998); Motel 6 G.P Inc. v. Lopez, 929 S.W.2d 1, 3 (Tex. 1996); Keetch v. Kroger Co., 845 S.W.2d 262, 264 (Tex. 1992); Restatement (Second) of Torts 343 (1965) .

In Corbin, the plaintiff slipped and fell on a grape that was on the floor in front of a grape display. Corbin, 648 S.W.2d at 294. Safeway, the premises owner, had directed each of its stores to keep large, non-slip mats in front of these displays because Safeway knew that if grapes fell on the floor, someone could slip and be injured. See id. The plaintiff in Corbin contended that there were three dangerous conditions. The first was the presence on the floor of the specific grape on which Corbin fell. He argued that Safeway had constructive knowledge of this condition because when he fell, other grapes lying around him were discolored and ruptured. See id. at 296. We held that this was legally insufficient evidence "to prove that the grapes had been on the floor a sufficient time to impute knowledge of their location to Safeway." Id. The "aging and discoloration may just as likely have occurred before as after the grapes fell." Id. We also held that there was no evidence to support Corbin's second theory, which was that the floor was excessively dirty. See id.

Corbin's third theory was that the manner in which the grapes were displayed created an unreasonable risk of harm. See id. The self-service grape bin at issue displayed green grapes, slanted towards a green linoleum tile floor, and was open with no covering. See id. Customers frequently knocked grapes off stems or dropped them, and the bin was a continual source of slippery material. See id at 294. Corbin testified that there was no mat in front of the display where he fell. See id. We held that a jury could conclude from this evidence that the manner of displaying the grapes posed an unusually high risk of injury and that because the store was responsible for placing a mat in front of the grape display, the absence of a mat was some evidence that Safeway had knowledge of the unreasonable risk. See id. at 296-97.

In H.E. Butt Grocery Co. v. Resendez, 988 S.W.2d 218 (Tex. 1999), we contrasted the facts presented in Corbin. In Resendez, the injured party contended that because H.E.B. displayed its grapes in a self-service bin that permitted shoppers to sample the fruit, there was an unreasonable risk that customers would slip on grapes that fell to the floor. See id. at 218. We disagreed, noting the lengths to which H.E.B. had gone to prevent grapes from falling from the display, the mats it had in place, and the warnings cones it had posted. See id. at 218-19. We held that "the mere fact that a store has a customer sampling display cannot, without more, be evidence of a condition on the premises that poses an unreasonable risk of harm." Id. at 219.

Daenen contends that CMH's step and platform unit was no different from the grape display in Corbin. CMH's first counter to this contention is that there is no evidence that the unit on which Daenen was injured was the same as the units that had become unstable in the past. Therefore, CMH argues, there is no evidence that it had actual or constructive knowledge that the unit on which Daenen was injured would inevitably become unstable.

Witnesses testified that the units CMH previously replaced when they became dangerous were "wooden ones." We need not decide whether a reasonable inference could be drawn from this testimony that the units CMH used in the past were of the same type as the unit on which Daenen was injured. Our analysis does not turn on whether the prior step and platform units were made of the same materials as those involved in Daenen's injury....

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