Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Gonzalez, WAL-MART

• Court: Supreme Court of Texas
• Citation: 968 S.W.2d 934
• Docket Number: WAL-MART,No. 97-1030,97-1030
• Parties: 41 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 811 STORES, INC., Petitioner, v. Flora L. GONZALEZ, Respondent.
• Decision Date: 08 May 1998

Page 934

968 S.W.2d 934 41 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 811 WAL-MART STORES, INC., Petitioner,
v.
Flora L. GONZALEZ, Respondent. No. 97-1030. Supreme Court of Texas. May 8, 1998.

Page 935

J. Preston Wrotenbery, Houston, for Petitioner.

Charles A. Nicholson, San Antonio, Respondent.

GONZALEZ, Justice, delivered the opinion of the Court, in which HECHT, ENOCH, OWEN and BAKER, Justices, joined.

The question in this slip-and-fall case is what quantum of circumstantial evidence is legally sufficient to support a finding that an unreasonably dangerous condition has existed long enough to charge a proprietor with constructive notice of the condition. The court of appeals held that there was legally sufficient evidence that some macaroni salad had existed on the Wal-Mart floor long

Page 936

enough to charge Wal-Mart with constructive notice of the condition. 954 S.W.2d 777, 780. We hold that when circumstantial evidence is relied upon to prove constructive notice, the evidence must establish that it is more likely than not that the dangerous condition existed long enough to give the proprietor a reasonable opportunity to discover the condition. Because we conclude that the circumstantial evidence in this case supports only the possibility that the dangerous condition existed long enough to give Wal-Mart a reasonable opportunity to discover it, we reverse and render judgment for Wal-Mart.

Flora Gonzalez visited the Rio Grande City Wal-Mart with her daughter and two granddaughters. While walking in a busy aisle from the cafeteria toward a store refrigerator, Gonzalez stepped on some cooked macaroni salad that came from the Wal-Mart cafeteria. Gonzalez slipped and fell, sustaining painful injuries to her back, shoulder, and knee. Gonzalez sued Wal-Mart for negligence. A jury awarded her $100,000 and the trial court rendered judgment on the verdict. The court of appeals, with one justice dissenting, reduced Gonzalez's damages to $96,700 and affirmed the judgment as modified. 954 S.W.2d at 783.

Gonzalez was Wal-Mart's invitee. As such, Wal-Mart owed her a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect her from dangerous conditions in the store known or discoverable to it. Rosas v. Buddies Food Store, 518 S.W.2d 534, 536-37 (Tex.1975). However, a land possessor's duty toward its invitee does not make the possessor an insurer of the invitee's safety. McElhenny v. Thielepape, 155 Tex. 319, 285 S.W.2d 940, 941 (1956). To recover damages in a slip-and-fall case, a plaintiff must prove:

(1) Actual or constructive knowledge of some condition on the premises by the owner/operator;

(2) That the condition posed an unreasonable risk of harm;

(3) That the owner/operator did not exercise reasonable care to reduce or eliminate the risk; and

(4) That the owner/operator's failure to use such care proximately caused the plaintiff's injuries.

Keetch v. Kroger Co., 845 S.W.2d 262, 264 (Tex.1992); Corbin v. Safeway Stores, Inc., 648 S.W.2d 292, 296 (Tex.1983).

The central issue in this case is whether Wal-Mart had constructive knowledge of the spilled macaroni. Wal-Mart argues that the evidence is legally insufficient to show that the macaroni had been on the floor long enough to charge Wal-Mart with constructive notice. When reviewing a legal sufficiency point, this court "must consider only the evidence and inferences tending to support the trial court's finding, disregarding all contrary evidence and inferences." Continental Coffee Prods. Co. v. Cazarez, 937 S.W.2d 444, 450 (Tex.1996). However, meager circumstantial evidence from which equally plausible but opposite inferences may be drawn is speculative and thus legally insufficient to support a finding. See Hammerly Oaks, Inc. v. Edwards, 958 S.W.2d 387, 392 (Tex.1997); Tubelite v. Risica & Sons, Inc., 819 S.W.2d 801, 805 (Tex.1991); Fifty-Six Thousand Seven Hundred Dollars in U.S. Currency v. State, 730 S.W.2d 659, 662 (Tex.1987); Litton Indus. Prods., Inc. v. Gammage, 668 S.W.2d 319, 324 (Tex.1984); see also Browning-Ferris, Inc. v. Reyna, 865 S.W.2d 925, 928 (Tex.1993) (holding that a factual finding must be supported by more than mere surmise or suspicion).

No witnesses testified that they had seen or were aware of the spilled macaroni before Gonzalez...