Harvey v. Bryant
| Decision Date | 18 August 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. L--308,L--308 |
| Parties | Arthur D. HARVEY and Vivian Harvey, his wife, appellants, v. John BRYANT and Mary Bryant, his wife, Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Daniel I. McCranie, Jacksonville, for appellants.
Charles Cook Howell, of Howell, Kirby, Montgomery & D'Aiuto, Jacksonville, for appellees.
Appellants were plaintiffs in a slip and fall negligence action against appellees. After the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs, the lower court granted defendants' motion for judgment in accordance with their motion for a directed verdict. The final judgment in favor of defendants is the subject of this appeal.
The facts show that appellee, Mary Bryant, was ill and requested appellant, Vivian Harvey, her niece by marriage, to come to her home and assist her. While going from the dining room into the kitchen for the purpose of fixing some ammonia for her aunt, the appellant slipped and fell. She testified that she did not know what had happened, but the evidence shows that there was a throw rug on the polished kitchen floor and that it was out of place and at her feet.
The first question presented for our consideration is whether there was any evidence based upon which the jury could have found for the plaintiffs on the question of negligence. The trial court answered this question in the negative, and our review of the record sustains that judgment. The alleged negligent conduct ascribed to the defendant was the placing of a throw rug on a polished floor in the defendants' home. Appellant contends the fact that the rug was two years old and had been washed weekly for that period rendered the rug inherently unsafe and that the jury could so infer. The trial judge held that these facts did not constitute negligence on defendants' part. Appellants rely on cases such as Ladenson v. Eder, 195 So.2d 211 (Fla.1967); and Walton v. Walton, 171 So.2d 72 (Fla.App.1964), in support of the contention that the condition present on defendants' premises constituted negligence. The facts in the instant case however are distinguishable from those in the line of cases relied upon in that here there is no showing that the defendant knew or should have known that the placing of the throw rug created a dangerous condition. In both Ladenson and Walton, supra, there was affirmative evidence of knowledge of the dangerous condition on the part of the defendants. No such evidence is shown in the case at bar.
We think the case of Partelow v. Edgar, 219 So.2d 72 (Fla.App.1969), and the principles enunciated therein require an affirmance of the judgment reviewed herein. In Partelow, the court affirmed a directed verdict in favor of the defendant upon the plaintiff's failure to show that the floor was maintained in other than a normal manner or that there was present or had been applied a foreign substance to the floor or that the same had been maintained in other than a normal and ordinary...
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Emmons v. Baptist Hosp.
...Warner v. Florida Jai Alai, Inc., 221 So.2d 777 (Fla. 4th DCA 1969), cert. dismissed, 235 So.2d 294 (Fla.1970); Harvey v. Bryant, 238 So.2d 462 (Fla. 1st DCA 1970); Partelow v. Edgar, 219 So.2d 72 (Fla. 4th DCA The cleaning of a floor at a hospital is a frequent and expected occurrence. Ind......
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Zygmont v. Smith
...to show a breach of duty inasmuch as there was no proof that the floor was negligently maintained. Similarly, in Harvey v. Bryant, 238 So.2d 462 (Fla. 1st DCA 1970), this court affirmed a directed verdict in a slip and fall case where there was no evidence that the defendant homeowner had k......
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Suggs v. Allen, 89-2029
...See also Crosby v. Paxson Electric Company, 534 So.2d 787, 789 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). Appellees rely in part upon Harvey v. Bryant, 238 So.2d 462 (Fla. 1st DCA 1970), wherein this court affirmed a directed verdict for the defendant in a slip and fall case where there was no evidence that the ......
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Vermont Mut. Ins. Co. v. Conway, GG-481
...was no showing that Mrs. Palmieri realized she was creating a danger to plaintiff by hosing the driveway down. In Harvey v. Bryant, 238 So.2d 462 (Fla. 1st DCA 1970), this court held that where there was no showing that a homeowner knew or should have known that placing a throw rug on a new......