Welch v. Auto Owners Ins. Co., LL-315

Decision Date11 April 1979
Docket NumberNo. LL-315,LL-315
PartiesJacqueline Lee WELCH and Patrick Wade Welch, by their father and next friend, J. P. Welch, and their mother and next friend, Patricia Welch, and J. P. Welch, Individually, and Patricia Welch, Individually and Anthony Johnson and Sean Johnson, by and through his father and next friend, Anthony Johnson, Appellants, v. AUTO OWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY et al., Appellees.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

ERVIN, Judge.

Jacqueline Lee Welch, aged 5 years, and her little brother, Patrick Welch, were seriously injured in a retail clothing store in Panama City Beach, Florida, when a plate glass window in the store front exploded during an unusually heavy wind and rain storm in February, 1976. Appellees Julian and Donald Bennett owned the store and, at the time of the accident, leased it to appellees Jimmy Christo and Tom Cooley. The window was made of 1/4 thick plate glass and was approximately 81/2' high and 10' wide.

Appellee Julian Bennett stated in a deposition that he had relied on the architect and the contractor to meet safety codes in design and construction of the building in 1970, and that he had approved the architect's plans. Bennett was aware of the dangerous propensities of glass and had signed one change order to install tempered glass so that patrons would not walk through the front windows by mistake.

The architect who designed the building stated that the windows were installed in compliance with the wind-load capacity required by the Panama City Beach municipal code in 1970. The architect's specifications called for him to conform to municipal codes and ordinances as well as the Southern Building Code. The lessees Cooley and Christo consulted with the architect concerning the plans and specifications during the construction of the building, as did the appellee-owners, the Bennetts. The architect recalled that, of the four, lessee Cooley and owner Don Bennett worked more closely with him than did the other appellees.

The plaintiffs offered the affidavit of Courtland Collier, a civil engineer and professor in the engineering department at the University of Florida, which stated that he had read the plans and specifications for the store and that "(i)n view of the size of the windows, the use of one-fourth inch plate glass is in violation of the Southern Building Code as it existed . . . at the time of the plaintiffs' injury and at the time the building was designed and constructed." The affidavit stated further that "the use of a building in a coastal area with plate glass...

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2 cases
  • Kala Investments, Inc. v. Sklar
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • January 31, 1989
    ...v. Hammet, 423 So.2d 923 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983) (jury question as to whether defect in road was observable) and Welch v. Auto Owners Ins. Co., 369 So.2d 449 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979) (jury question as to whether landlord should have known of defective thin glass window which violated code) and Milby......
  • Taylor v. Piggly Wiggly Corp., 93-2235
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • December 8, 1994
    ...to repair or warn of latent or concealed perils it knows of or should know of by the exercise of due care. Welch v. Auto Owners Ins. Co., 369 So.2d 449 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979); 2 Restatement (Second) of Torts Sec. 343 (1965). Appellants' expert stated in an affidavit that it is very probable th......

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