Coyne v. Taber Partners I

Decision Date05 April 1995
Docket NumberNo. 94-2231,94-2231
Citation53 F.3d 454
PartiesJohn P. COYNE, et al., Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. TABER PARTNERS I, d/b/a Ambassador Plaza Hotel & Casino, et al., Defendants, Appellees. . Heard
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Mark S. Shuman, with whom Jose L. Rivero Vergne and Moreda & Moreda, San Juan, PR, were on brief, for appellants.

Maria Soledad Ramirez-Becerra, with whom Mercado & Soto, Santurce, PR, was on brief, for appellees.

Before SELYA, CYR and STAHL, Circuit Judges.

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

This negligence action perished when the lower court granted a motion for summary judgment. Discerning error, we resuscitate the suit. 1

I. BACKGROUND

Consistent with the summary judgment standard, we limn the material facts in a light that flatters, but does not impermissibly distort, the plaintiff's claims.

On July 8, 1992, a local union representing taxi drivers and tour operators frustrated by competition from hotel-operated taxis and other amateurs declared a strike that virtually paralyzed transportation services at San Juan's principal airport. Despite a beefed-up police presence, strikers congregated at various points, including Baldorioty de Castro Avenue (the main thoroughfare leading to and from the airport). 2 The labor unrest was open and notorious; reports of the strike appeared, inter alia, in the July 9 edition of a major newspaper, the San Juan Star.

Carol Coyne, a resident of Massachusetts, blissfully unaware of the strike, flew into the airport on July 9. Because she had reserved accommodations at the Ambassador Plaza, Taber dispatched a driver, Angel Marrero, to transport her from the airport to the hotel. While waiting for Taber's emissary to arrive, plaintiff witnessed several confrontations between strikers and motorists.

Following the same practice he had thrice utilized that day, Marrero crossed the picket line driving a red Ford rented by the hotel. When he reached the terminal, he refused to alight from the vehicle and plaintiff noticed that he seemed frightened. Once he had collected the plaintiff, other prospective guests, and their luggage, Marrero headed for the hotel. After the Ford reached Baldorioty de Castro Avenue, a man stepped in front of it and blocked its path. Other persons began hurling objects at the car. 3 One such projectile shattered a window and injured the plaintiff. Marrero eventually managed to extricate the vehicle from this precarious situation and immediately sought medical attention for plaintiff.

Some time elapsed. Then, plaintiff, striking a blow of her own, sued Taber in Puerto Rico's federal district court. See 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1332 (1988 & Supp.IV 1992) (stating requirements for diversity jurisdiction). After preliminary skirmishing, not now relevant, the court, in the person of a magistrate judge, see 28 U.S.C. Sec. 636(c) (1988), granted Taber's motion for brevis disposition. This appeal ensued.

II. THE SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

The Civil Rules empower a court to grant summary judgment "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." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). We have written prolifically on the nuances and ramifications of this rule, see, e.g., National Amusements, Inc. v. Town of Dedham, 43 F.3d 731, 735 (1st Cir.1995), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 2247, 132 L.Ed.2d 255 (1995); Vasapolli v. Rostoff, 39 F.3d 27, 32 (1st Cir.1994); Dow v. United Bhd. of Carpenters, Etc., 1 F.3d 56, 58 (1st Cir.1993); Pagano v. Frank, 983 F.2d 343, 347 (1st Cir.1993); Wynne v. Tufts Univ. Sch. of Med., 976 F.2d 791, 793-94 (1st Cir.1992), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 1845, 123 L.Ed.2d 470 (1993); United States v. One Parcel of Real Property (Great Harbor Neck, New Shoreham, R.I.), 960 F.2d 200, 204 (1st Cir.1992); Rivera-Muriente v. Agosto-Alicea, 959 F.2d 349, 351-52 (1st Cir.1992); Medina-Munoz v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 896 F.2d 5, 7-8 (1st Cir.1990); Garside v. Osco Drug, Inc., 895 F.2d 46, 48-49 (1st Cir.1990), and it would be pleonastic to rehearse that jurisprudence here.

For present purposes, it suffices to say that "summary judgment's role is to pierce the boilerplate of the pleadings and assay the parties' proof in order to determine whether trial is actually required." Wynne, 976 F.2d at 794. A Rule 56 motion may well end the case unless the party opposing it demonstrates the existence of a trialworthy issue as to some material fact. Exercising de novo review, see Pagano, 983 F.2d at 347, and taking the facts (including the reasonable inferences therefrom) in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, see Rivera-Muriente, 959 F.2d at 352, we conclude that the evidence of record in this case is "sufficiently open-ended to permit a rational factfinder to resolve the [liability] issue in favor of either side," National Amusements, 43 F.3d at 735. Thus, the court below terminated the suit prematurely.

III. ANALYSIS

In granting summary judgment, the lower court found plaintiff's claim wanting in two ways. First, the court ruled that because the rock-throwing incident took place "outside the [hotel's] premises," Taber did not owe "a duty to protect and provide reasonable security measures." Second, the court reasoned that the harm of which plaintiff complained "was not foreseeable or causally related to any acts or omissions" attributable to Taber. We examine each theorem separately.

A. Duty.

The substantive law of Puerto Rico governs the issue of negligence in this diversity suit. See Erie R.R. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 78, 58 S.Ct. 817, 822, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938); Daigle v. Maine Med. Ctr., Inc., 14 F.3d 684, 689 (1st Cir.1994). Under Puerto Rico law, negligence actions generally hark back to article 1802 of the Civil Code, which imposes liability upon a person who "causes damage to another party through fault or negligence." P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, Sec. 5141 (1991). In this instance, plaintiff alleges that article 1057 of the Civil Code, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, Sec. 3021 (1991), excerpted in the margin, 4 puts a gloss on article 1802. Taber demurs, asseverating that article 1057 does not apply. We agree with plaintiff that, here, article 1057 informs the operation of article 1802. Compare, e.g., Rivera Perez v. Cruz Corchado, 87 J.T.S. 51 (1987) (Official English Translation: No. RE-86-18, slip op. at 8) (discussing interface between articles 1057 and 1802).

It brooks no dispute that article 1057 imposes liability upon certain establishments, such as hotels, schools, and hospitals, that fail to provide security commensurate with the circumstances attendant to their operations. See Estremera v. Inmobiliaria Rac, Inc., 109 P.R.R. 1150, 1154-55 (1980) (stating that liability can be found when circumstances create a demand for greater protection, but the establishment nonetheless neglects to bolster security). The duty to furnish heightened security is thought to stem from the character of the enterprise in which the defendant engages and from the special nature of the relationship between the defendant and its invitees. See id. at 1154 (noting that a hotel "basically substitutes [for] a home"). On this rationale, the Commonwealth's courts have made pellucid that the prospect of criminal activity may give rise to the need for such an establishment to furnish "a wider scope of protection and security than can be supplied by law-enforcement agencies." Id.; accord Elba v. Univ. of P.R., 90 J.T.S. 13 (1990) (Official English Translation: No. RE-86-214, slip op. at 23) (finding that university's failure to provide adequate security in a high-risk rape area gave rise to violent assault of female student).

Notwithstanding these general principles, the magistrate judge, accepting artificial distinctions drawn by Taber, ruled that article 1057 landed wide of the mark, and that, on the facts reflected in the summary judgment record, Taber owed no duty to furnish security for plaintiff's protection. The magistrate advanced two theories. Neither holds water.

1. Cabdrivers' Liability. Relying primarily on Jacob v. Eagle Star Ins. Co., 640 F.Supp. 117 (D.P.R.1986), the magistrate posited that, as a matter of law, cabdrivers (and, ergo, their employers) are not liable to passengers for crimes committed by third persons. Jacob is not a comfortable fit.

In Jacob, an independent cabdriver transporting fares from the airport to a hotel paused at a red light. Thieves rushed the car, held the driver at gunpoint, and attempted to rob the passengers. In the commotion that ensued, a passenger was shot. See id. at 118. The district court concluded on the particular facts of the case that a cabdriver had no duty to guard against third-party criminal activity. See id. at 119. In reaching its decision the court noted that "[u]nlike a hotel ... the nature of [defendant's] business does not demand special security measures." Id.

Here, however, unlike in Jacob, the defendant is a hotel, albeit one that is being sued because it elected to furnish transportation services ancillary to its principal business. Moreover, unlike in Jacob, where the court emphasized that the cabdriver was "a public carrier for hire," id., the operator of the vehicle rented to Taber was not a common carrier (or even a cabdriver) but an employee of the hotel, performing a private service for a private purpose. Thus, though Coyne was in a car, she was just as much a ward of the hotel as if she was in her suite or in the lobby.

Even assuming, then, that taxicab operators are not within the reach of article 1057--a matter on which we take no position--we are of the opinion that the defendant here must be viewed as an innkeeper rather than as a taxicab operator. It follows,...

To continue reading

Request your trial
183 cases
  • Sellers v. U.S. Dept. of Defense
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island
    • July 16, 2009
    ...on a pivotal issue in the case, the judge may not choose between those inferences at the summary judgment stage." Coyne v. Taber Partners I, 53 F.3d 454, 460 (1st Cir.1995). Furthermore, "[s]ummary judgment is not appropriate merely because the facts offered by the moving party seem more pl......
  • Davis v. Dawson, Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts
    • June 9, 1998
    ...of the pleadings and assay the parties' proof in order to determine whether trial is actually required." Coyne v. Taber Partners I, 53 F.3d 454, 457 (1st Cir.1995). "As to issues on which the summary judgment target bears the ultimate burden of proof, she [or he] cannot rely on an absence o......
  • Intercity Maintenance v. Local 254 Serv. Employees
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island
    • July 29, 1999
    ...on a pivotal issue in the case, the judge may not choose between those inferences at the summary judgment stage." Coyne v. Taber Partners I, 53 F.3d 454, 460 (1st Cir.1995). Similarly, "[s]ummary judgment is not appropriate merely because the facts offered by the moving party seem more plau......
  • Ferreira v. Dubois, Civil Action No. 95-10665-PBS.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts
    • September 18, 1996
    ...of the pleadings and assay the parties' proof in order to determine whether trial is actually required." Coyne v. Taber Partners I, 53 F.3d 454, 457 (1st Cir.1995). In addition to the qualified immunity issue, the cross motions for summary judgment generally dispute the merits of Ferreira's......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT