Macgregor v. Daytona Int'l Speedway, LLC
Decision Date | 21 December 2018 |
Docket Number | Case No. 5D17-2989 |
Citation | 263 So.3d 151 |
Parties | Pamella MACGREGOR and David MacGregor, Appellants, v. DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY, LLC, and International Speedway Corp., Appellees. |
Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Shaun M. Cummings, Wil H. Florin and Tommy D. Roebig, Jr., of Florin Roebig, P.A., Palm Harbor, for Appellants.
Scott A. Cole and Alexandra Valdes, of Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A., Miami, for Appellees.
Pamella MacGregor and David MacGregor (Appellants) appeal the final summary judgment entered by the trial court in favor of Daytona International Speedway, LLC (DIS) and International Speedway Corporation (ISC). Appellants raise two points on appeal, both of which have merit. First, they argue the trial court erred in determining that the release Pamella signed applied to gross negligence. Next, they contend a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether DIS's and ISC's employee was grossly negligent and therefore, entry of summary judgment on this issue was error. We agree and reverse.
Pamella was injured when she was run over by a tow truck that was backing up in counter-race direction on Pit Row during a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) race held on September 29, 2013, at the Daytona International Speedway. The tow truck driver was instructed to back up in that direction by an employee of DIS and ISC. In order to enter the non-spectator restricted area of the speedway during the race, pursuant to section 549.09(2), Florida Statutes (2013), Pamella was asked to and did sign a release and waiver of liability and assumption of risk agreement. The release stated in relevant part:
In determining that the signed release barred suit in this case, the trial court found that section 549.09 did not preclude the release from "negligence" claims from also applying to gross negligence claims and that a reply to DIS's and ISC's affirmative defense of release was necessary to raise section 549.09 as an issue in the case. We disagree. Although the language of the release states that it "extends to all acts of negligence," in the context of closed-course motorsport facilities, the Legislature has explicitly excluded gross negligence from the definition of negligence for injuries occurring in the nonspectator areas of the facility.1 § 549.09(1)(e), Fla. Stat. (2013). The explicit exclusion of gross negligence from the definition of negligence in this context prevents the release in this case from barring the gross negligence claim.2 See Hager v. Live Nation Motor Sports, Inc., 665 F.Supp.2d 1290, 1294 (S.D. Fla. 2009) (); Marchman v. St. Anthony's Hosp., Inc., 152...
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