Meyers v. Wal-Mart Stores, East, Inc.

• Decision Date: 11 December 1998
• Docket Number: Civil No. 97-40517.
• Citation: 29 F.Supp.2d 780
• Parties: William J. MEYERS, Plaintiff, v. WAL-MART STORES, EAST, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

29 F.Supp.2d 780

William J. MEYERS, Plaintiff, v. WAL-MART STORES, EAST, INC., Defendant.

Civil No. 97-40517.

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division.

December 11, 1998.

John D. Nickola, Flint, MI, Jeffrey T. Meyers, Chambers, Steiner, Detroit, MI, for Plaintiff.

Dane A. Lupo, Lupo & Koczkur, Jeffrey S. Sherbow, Thomas P. Murray, Jr., Orlans, Sherbow, Troy, MI, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

GADOLA, District Judge.

On October 16, 1998, defendant Wal-Mart Stores, East, Inc. (hereinafter "Wal-Mart") filed a motion for summary judgment. On November 8, 1998, plaintiff William J. Meyers filed his brief in response. No reply brief has been submitted by defendant. The instant action arises out of an incident which occurred on July 8, 1997 at the Sam's Club located in Southgate, Michigan, and owned by defendant Wal-Mart. Plaintiff maintains that he slipped or tripped on a box in an area where cardboard boxes were placed for customers' convenience, which caused him to fall to the floor. Wal-Mart argues that the alleged dangerous condition was open and obvious and not unreasonably dangerous to plaintiff, thus obviating any duty owed to plaintiff. On December 9, 1998, oral argument on the instant motion was heard by this Court.

For the reasons set forth below, the Court will deny defendant's motion for summary judgment.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On January 8, 1997, plaintiff William J. Meyers and his wife visited the Sam's Club store located in Southgate, Michigan. Sam's Club is a large warehouse store which sells bulk items, including groceries. Plaintiff and his wife shopped for approximately 45 minutes to one hour. After filling two carts with groceries and other items, they proceeded to the checkout lines. While his wife waited in line, plaintiff went to get a cup of frozen custard. Upon his return, his wife asked plaintiff to go to the box area in order to retrieve a box for their purchases, since the store does not provide its customers with bags.

Plaintiff proceeded to the garage area located near the exit doors. The boxes in the back of this area were stacked four or five feet high. The boxes in the front were "scattered all over the place" and were in disarray, according to plaintiff. Just before entering the garage area, plaintiff put his custard down. He moved a few boxes with his feet and some with his hands in order to get the box he wanted. Plaintiff then turned around, grabbed his custard in one hand while holding a box in the other hand. At this point, plaintiff began to exit the garage area, whereupon his left foot allegedly tripped on a box and he fell. Plaintiff suffered a fractured hip.

Plaintiff brought the above-entitled action against defendant Wal-Mart, alleging that Wal-Mart had maintained the open box bin area of its premises in a negligent fashion with boxes lying upon the floor in a haphazard, disorganized, and dangerous condition. In his complaint, plaintiff has alleged the following breaches of defendant's duty of care: (1) failure to maintain the open area in a condition so as to eliminate trip hazards from the area; (2) failure to provide customers with shopping bags so as to avoid the necessity of customers entering the open area where boxes are strewn about; and (3) failure to provide bins and/or other holding devices so that boxes might be safely accessed by customers. See Complaint ¶ 12.

II. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Pursuant to Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, summary judgment may be granted "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 judgment as a matter of law." "A fact is `material' and precludes grant of summary judgment if proof of that fact would have [the] effect of establishing or refuting one of the essential elements of the cause of action or defense asserted by the parties, and would necessarily affect [the] application of appropriate principle[s] of law to the rights and obligations of the parties." Kendall v. Hoover Co., 751 F.2d 171, 174 (6th Cir.1984) (citation omitted). In evaluating a motion for summary judgment, the court must view the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmovant, as well as draw all reasonable inferences in the nonmovant's favor. See U.S. v. Diebold, 369 U.S. 654, 655, 82 S.Ct. 993, 8 L.Ed.2d 176 (1962); Bender v. Southland Corp., 749 F.2d 1205, 1210-11 (6th Cir.1984).

The movant bears the burden of demonstrating the absence of all genuine issues of material fact. See Gregg v. Allen-Bradley Co., 801 F.2d 859, 861 (6th Cir.1986). This burden "may be discharged by showing ... that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Once the moving party discharges that burden, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to set forth specific facts showing a genuine triable issue. Fed.R.Civ.Proc. 56(e); Gregg, 801 F.2d at 861.

To create a genuine issue of material fact, however, the nonmovant must do more than present some evidence on a disputed issue. As the United States Supreme Court stated in Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.,

[t]here is no issue for trial unless there is sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party. If the [nonmovant's] evidence is merely colorable, or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted.

477 U.S. 242, 249-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). See Catrett, 477 U.S. at 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548; Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). The evidence itself need not be the sort admissible at trial. Ashbrook v. Block, 917 F.2d 918, 921 (6th Cir.1990). However, the evidence must be more than the nonmovant's own pleadings and affidavits. Id.

III. ANALYSIS

In Michigan, it is well-settled that "a premises owner must maintain his or her property in a reasonably safe condition and has a duty to exercise due care to protect invitees from conditions that might result in injury." Riddle v. McLouth Steel Products, 440 Mich. 85, 90, 485 N.W.2d 676 (1992).¹ A property owner, however, is not an absolute insurer of the safety of invitees. Williams v. Cunningham Drug Stores, Inc., 429 Mich. 495, 500, 418 N.W.2d 381 (1988). In order to establish a prima facie case of negligence, a plaintiff must establish the following four elements: (1) that defendant owed a legal duty to plaintiff; (2) that defendant breached or violated the legal duty owed to plaintiff; (3) that plaintiff suffered damages; and (4) that defendant's breach of duty was a proximate cause of the damages suffered by the plaintiff. Riddle, 440 Mich. at 96 n. 10, 485 N.W.2d 676.

"The threshold issue of the duty of care in negligence actions must be decided by the trial court as a matter of law." Id. at 95, 485 N.W.2d 676 (citing Antcliff v. State Employees Credit Union, 414 Mich. 624, 327 N.W.2d 814 (1982)). It is for the court to determine the circumstances that must exist in order for defendant's duty to arise. Id. (citing Smith v. Allendale Mut. Ins. Co., 410 Mich. 685, 714-715, 303 N.W.2d 702 (1981)); see, generally, Prosser & Keeton, Torts (5th ed.), ch. 5. However, "[o]nce a defendant's legal duty is established, the reasonableness of the defendant's conduct under that standard is generally a question for the jury." Id. at 96, 485 N.W.2d 676.

Defendant Wal-Mart argues that it had no legal duty to protect plaintiff because the boxes were an open and obvious danger and plaintiff saw the boxes before tripping. In the Riddle decision, upon which defendant heavily relies, the Michigan Supreme Court held that "where dangers are known to the invitee or are so obvious that the invitee might reasonably be expected to discover them, an invitor owes no duty to protect or warn the invitee unless he should anticipate the harm despite knowledge of it on behalf of the invitee." Riddle, 440 Mich. at 96, 485 N.W.2d 676. Thus, according to defendant, plaintiff has failed to allege a prima facie case of negligence. As the Restatement of Torts, Second, states, "[a] possessor of land is not liable to his invitees for physical harm caused to them by any activity or condition on the land whose danger is known or obvious to them, unless the possessor should anticipate the harm despite such knowledge or obviousness." Id. at 94, 485 N.W.2d 676 (quoting 2 Restatement Torts 2d, § 343A(1)).

In response, plaintiff acknowledges that while the "open or obvious danger" doctrine may preclude a failure to warn claim, it does not necessarily preclude a claim premised on defendant's failure to protect invitees from foreseeably dangerous conditions. In the instant case, plaintiff is not arguing that defendant failed to warn its customers of the danger, but rather that the company failed to adequately protect them from a hazardous condition. As Riddle also made clear, the "open or obvious danger" doctrine is not an absolute. A possessor of land may nevertheless be held liable if the condition was unreasonably dangerous despite its obviousness. See Riddle, 440 Mich. at 95-96, 485 N.W.2d 676; see also Phillips v. Travelers Ins. Co., 451 Mich. 924, 924-25, 549 N.W.2d 539 (1996); Hottmann v. Hottmann, 226 Mich. App. 171, 176, 572 N.W.2d 259 (1997); Hughes v. PMG Bldg., Inc., 227 Mich.App. 1, 11, 574 N.W.2d 691 (1997). Both plaintiff and defendant agree that the Michigan Supreme Court has greatly clarified, in subsequent cases, the duty owed by a landowner to an invitee even where a dangerous condition is open and obvious. See, e.g., Bertrand v. Alan Ford, Inc., 449 Mich. 606, 537 N.W.2d 185 (1995).

In Bertrand, the court dealt with two factual situations consolidated for...