Young v. La Quinta Inns, Inc.

• Decision Date: 30 August 1996
• Citation: 682 So.2d 402
• Parties: Gaynell H. YOUNG v. LA QUINTA INNS, INC., and Ken Gay. 1950387.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Page 402

682 So.2d 402

Gaynell H. YOUNG v. LA QUINTA INNS, INC., and Ken Gay.

1950387.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

Aug. 30, 1996.

Chriss H. Doss and James W. Cameron of Chriss H. Doss & Associates, P.C., Birmingham, for appellant.

F. Chadwick Morriss and William H. Webster of Rushton, Stakely, Johnston & Garrett, P.A., Montgomery, for appellees.

KENNEDY, Justice.

In this personal injury case Gaynell H. Young sued La Quinta Inns, Inc., and its manager, Ken Gay (collectively "La Quinta"), on theories of negligence, following her fall on the premises of a La Quinta Inn located in Montgomery. Young appeals from a summary judgment in favor of La Quinta, arguing that there was a genuine issue of material fact that, she says, rendered the summary judgment improper.

Our review of a summary judgment is de novo, and in determining whether a summary judgment was proper we must view the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Hightower & Co. v. United States Fidelity & Guar. Co., 527 So.2d 698 (Ala.1988).

A summary judgment is proper where there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Rule 56(c)(3), Ala. R. Civ. P. The party moving for the summary judgment, here La Quinta, has the burden of establishing a prima facie showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact. Berner v. Caldwell, 543 So.2d 686 (Ala.1989). If the moving party makes such a showing, then the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to rebut that showing by presenting substantial evidence creating a genuine issue of material fact. Substantial evidence is "evidence of such weight and quality that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment can reasonably infer the existence of the fact sought to be proved." West v. Founders Life Assurance Co. of Florida, 547 So.2d 870, 871 (Ala.1989).

In the trial court, La Quinta argued that it was entitled to a judgment because the object that caused Young's fall, a concrete parking "bumper block," was not "hidden" and should have been observed by Young. On appeal, La Quinta points to numerous factual matters favorable to it on this question. We, therefore, emphasize that in reviewing a summary judgment, we must view the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party, here, Young. ¹

The evidence, viewed most favorably to Young, indicates the following:

Young had parked in La Quinta's lot located on the east side of the Montgomery La Quinta Inn, in the front row's second space from the end nearest a back exit door. This space and adjacent parking spaces were separated from the La Quinta Inn by a curb and a sidewalk lying in front of the spaces. Also, the parking spaces had concrete "bumper blocks" at the front of them.

The first space, which Young parked next to, was narrower than the adjoining parking spaces, but the concrete bumper block at the head of it was approximately the same size as that used at the heads of the other parking spaces. As a result of the narrower width of the first parking space and the placement and size of its bumper block, that bumper block was not fully under the front of a vehicle parked in the first space and it was possible for that bumper block to protrude past the right front wheel of such a vehicle and into the area where a pedestrian might step off the sidewalk in front of the spaces and walk between the vehicle in the first space and a vehicle in the second space. The bumper block would protrude this way, as it did on the day of Young's fall, when a vehicle in the first space was parked nearer the curb, to its left, than to the second parking space, located to its right.

At the time of Young's fall, she was leaving the La Quinta Inn. She did not see the bumper block as she stepped off the sidewalk and into the parking area between a car parked in the first parking space and her car, parked in the second space. She was injured when she tripped over the protruding bumper block, which extended beyond the right front wheel of the car parked in the first parking spot.

The parties agree that at the time of her injuries, Young was a business invitee--one who had come onto "the premises for some purpose that materially or commercially [benefits] the owner or occupier of the premises." Boyd v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 642...