Scott v. TPI Restaurants, Inc.

• Decision Date: 09 November 2001
• Docket Number: No. 5D00-3706.,5D00-3706.
• Citation: 798 So.2d 907
• Parties: Thelma SCOTT, Appellant, v. TPI RESTAURANTS, INC., etc., Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

798 So.2d 907

Thelma SCOTT, Appellant, v.TPI RESTAURANTS, INC., etc., Appellee.

No. 5D00-3706.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

November 9, 2001.

Elizabeth Siano Harris of Stadler & Harris, P.A., Titusville, for Appellant.

Thomas W. Sculco of Law Office of Pine & Bergier, Maitland, for Appellee.

SAWAYA, J.

Thelma Scott[Thelma], the plaintiff below, appeals the order of the trial court granting TPI Restaurants, Inc. d/b/a Shoney's motion for directed verdict and entering final judgment in its favor.Thelma argues that the trial court erred in directing the verdict on her slip-and-fall claim against Shoney's because the trial court failed to view the evidence, as well as all the reasonable inferences, in a light most favorable to her.We agree and reverse.

Thelma filed a lawsuit against Shoney's after she slipped and fell while attempting to exit a Shoney's restaurant.In her complaint she essentially alleged that Shoney's breached the duty of care it owed her by negligently maintaining the floor in the area of the restaurant where the breakfast buffet was located.Specifically, Thelma alleged that she stepped in food that had been dropped on the floor by other patrons who visited the buffet and that this caused her to slip and fall as she attempted to exit the restaurant.

Shoney's moved for a directed verdict and, after hearing argument on the motion, the trial court took the issue under advisement.Thereafter, the jury returned its verdict finding Shoney's 60% negligent and Thelma 40% negligent.Because the trial court bifurcated the issues of liability and damages, the only testimony presented at trial was in regard to Shoney's liability.Despite the jury's verdict, the trial court subsequently granted Shoney's motion for directed verdict and entered final judgment in its favor finding that Thelma failed to present evidence that Shoney's was negligent and that the verdict was against the manifest weight of the evidence.

It is not unusual for trial judges to take a motion for directed verdict under advisement until after the jury returns with a verdict.See generallyConda v. Plain,222 So.2d 417(Fla.1969);Woods v. Winn Dixie Stores, Inc.,621 So.2d 710(Fla. 3d DCA1993);see alsoFla. R. Civ. P. 1.480(b).If a trial judge should elect to do so, his or her decision is reviewed by appellate courts pursuant to the same standard of review generally applied to motions for directed verdict decided during trial.Woods;see alsoThor Bear, Inc. v. Crocker Mizner Park,648 So.2d 168(Fla. 4th DCA1994).

"A motion for directed verdict should be granted when there is no reasonable evidence upon which a jury could legally predicate a verdict in favor of the nonmoving party."St. Johns River Water Mgmt. Dist. v. Fernberg Geological Servs.,784 So.2d 500, 504(Fla. 5th DCA2001)(quotingCecile Resort, Ltd. v. Hokanson,729 So.2d 446, 447(Fla. 5th DCA1999));Ameriseal of North East Fla., Inc. v. Leiffer,738 So.2d 993(Fla. 5th DCA1999),rev. denied,763 So.2d 1042(Fla.2000).In other words, a motion for directed verdict should be granted only if no view of the evidence could support a verdict for the nonmoving party and the trial court therefore determines that no reasonable jury could render a verdict for that party.Blake v. Hi-Lu Corp.,781 So.2d 1122(Fla. 3d DCA2001);Edwards v. Orkin Exterminating Co.,718 So.2d 881, 883(Fla. 3d DCA1998)(citingBurch v. Strange,126 So.2d 898(Fla. 1st DCA1961));Houghton v. Bond,680 So.2d 514(Fla. 1st DCA1996);see alsoScott v. Otis Elevator Co.,680 So.2d 462, 462(Fla. 1st DCA1996)("A directed verdict in a negligence action should only be entered if the plaintiff could not recover under any reasonable view of the evidence.")(citingPritchett v. Jacksonville Auction, Inc.,449 So.2d 364(Fla. 1st DCA1984));Thor Bear.

When considering a motion for directed verdict, the trial court is required to evaluate the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and every reasonable inference therefrom must be indulged in the plaintiff's favor.St. Johns;Cecile,729 So.2d at 447(quotingAmerican Motors Corp. v. Ellis,403 So.2d 459, 467(Fla. 5th DCA1981), rev. denied,415 So.2d 1359(Fla.1982)).If there are conflicts in the evidence or different reasonable inferences may be drawn from it, then the issue is a factual one that should be submitted to the jury and not be decided by the trial court as a matter of law.SeeMartinolich v. Golden Leaf Mgmt., Inc.,786 So.2d 613(Fla. 3d DCA2001).

Application of this standard to negligence cases has lead the appellate courts to repeatedly admonish trial courts that

[i]n negligence cases, motions for directed verdict should be treated with special caution because it is the function of the jury to weigh and evaluate the evidence.SeeJacobs v. Westgate,766 So.2d 1175, 1179(Fla. 3d DCA2000);Pascale v. Federal Express Corp.,656 So.2d 1351, 1353(Fla. 4th DCA1995).It is only where

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