Massart By and Through Massart v. Toys R Us, Inc.
| Decision Date | 13 March 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 97-37-A,97-37-A |
| Citation | 708 A.2d 187 |
| Parties | Annie Jill MASSART, By and Through Her Parents and Legal Guardians, Edward MASSART and Bernice Massart v. TOYS R US, INC. ppeal. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
Robert D. Goldberg, for Plaintiff.
Stephen B. Lang, Providence, for Defendant.
Before WEISBERGER, C.J., and LEDERBERG and FLANDERS, JJ.
This is a premises-liability case concerning the sufficiency of negligence evidence in a slip-and-fall situation. The plaintiff, Annie Jill Massart (Annie), by and through her parents and legal guardians, Edward Massart and Bernice Massart, appeals from the entry of a Superior Court judgment in favor of the defendant, Toys R Us, Inc. (Toys R Us). The parties were ordered to show cause why this case should not be summarily decided. No cause having been shown, we proceed to decide the appeal at this time.
The guardian/plaintiffs filed a Superior Court complaint against Toys R Us, alleging that Annie suffered injuries, including a fractured right ankle, when she fell in the Warwick Toys R Us store on December 29, 1993. The plaintiffs contended that Toys R Us knew or should have known of the unsafe condition on its premises that caused her to fall. After a trial before a Superior Court justice and a jury, but before the case was submitted to the jury, the trial justice granted Toys R Us's motion for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Rule 50 of the Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure. On appeal, plaintiffs contend that there was sufficient evidence of negligence to submit the case to the jury. In addition, plaintiffs argue that the trial justice erred in allowing defendant to present evidence that Annie had fractured her other ankle in an unrelated incident two years prior to her fall in the Toys R Us store.
Annie, who was eleven years old at the time of trial and eight years old when the slip and fall occurred, testified that she and her mother went to the Toys R Us store in Warwick on the night of December 29, 1993 in order to buy slides for a microscope that she had received as a Christmas present. She testified that there were long lines at the cash registers and that her mother decided to wait in line while she remained in the toy aisle. As Annie began to make her way toward her mother after her mother had beckoned to her, the youngster tripped over the base of a small basketball hoop and fell to the floor. After she fell, she noticed that the hoop was on its side, with the bottom of the structure jutting out from one of the side aisles into the main aisle. Annie stated that she did not see the hoop until after she fell.
Annie's mother, Bernice Massart (Massart), testified that the Toys R Us store was "a little chaotic" on the evening she and her daughter visited the store. She stated that there was not much help in the store at the time and that she took her purchases to the register to wait in line while Annie remained in the aisle, looking at other toys. After she paid, she signaled to Annie that it was time to leave. Annie then hobbled up to her and told her that she had just fallen and hurt her ankle. Massart took Annie home and put her to bed for the night. The next morning Annie could not walk, and her ankle was completely swollen on both sides. Indeed, upon taking her daughter to see a physician later that morning, Massart learned that Annie had fractured her ankle in the area of her growth plate.
Massart also testified that she called the store manager at Toys R Us later that day and told him what had happened. According to Massart, when she mentioned the basketball stand, the manager responded that he knew the display she was talking about, saying, She stated that the manager asked her to come to the store and sign some papers; however, instead of doing that, the mother telephoned her attorney.
Keith Martel (Martel), the store manager for Toys R Us in Warwick, testified that neither he nor any other manager had taken a call from Massart. Martel stated that if a call had been received by the store indicating that someone had been injured, an entry would have been made in an incident log to document the injury. But no such entry had been made. Martel also testified that all store employees are trained to pick up loose pieces of merchandise as they come across them in the aisles. On cross-examination, however, Martel acknowledged that toys regularly fell to the floor during that season of the year.
The trial justice determined that there was no evidence that Toys R Us knew or should have known that a dangerous and unsafe condition existed at its Warwick store on the night in question before Annie injured herself. The trial justice noted that neither Annie nor her mother testified that they saw the basketball hoop on the floor prior to Annie's fall. There also was no evidence, the trial justice concluded, of actual or constructive notice to Toys R Us of the condition that caused Annie's injury.
In reaching this decision, the trial justice relied upon Gleason v. Almac's, Inc., 103 R.I. 40, 234 A.2d 350 (1967). The plaintiff in that case sustained injuries when she fell in the defendant's supermarket. Id. at 40-41, 234 A.2d at 350. This court reversed a denial of a motion for a directed verdict in favor of the defendant on the ground that the testimony of the plaintiff there and of the store manager was insufficient to establish the store's liability. Id. at 42-45, 234 A.2d at 351-52. The plaintiff had testified that she did not see any objects on the floor before she fell but noticed a roll of film between her feet after her fall. Id. at 41, 234 A.2d at 350. The store manager testified that rolls of film, such as the one described by the plaintiff, were displayed on racks near the registers. But he was not asked what steps were taken to keep the store's premises in a safe condition for customers. Id. This court concluded that there was no evidence from which the jury could conclude that the roll of film had been on the floor because of some negligent act on the part of...
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