Source: https://casetext.com/case/sproles-v-l-j-sharp-hardware
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 08:42:44+00:00

Document:
July 28, 1967. Rehearing Denied September 29, 1967.
Appeal from 162nd District Court, Dallas County, Dee Brown Walker, J.
Ely Straus, Bowyer Thomas, Dallas, for appellants.
Edward E. Crowell, Jr., of Gardere, Porter DeHay, Dallas, for appellee.
to the danger of walking upon such surface.
Defendant filed its motion for summary judgment alleging the nonexistence of issuable facts and in support of such motion attached the depositions of Mrs. Elizabeth Sproles and Mr. Raymond P . Smith, manager of defendant's store. Plaintiffs countered this motion with their verified answer to which was attached an affidavit of Mrs. Sam T. Smith.
Mrs. Sproles, 72 years of age, testified that on December 9, 1964 she entered the Sharp hardware store with a friend, Mrs. Sam T. Smith, for the purpose of doing some shopping. Her eyesight was perfectly all right for seeing at a distance and she only wore glasses for reading. She had been in this same store frequently as a customer on prior occasions. Mrs. Smith preceded her into the store and as she was following Mrs. Smith her left foot slipped and she fell to the floor. At the time of this incident the premises were well lighted and she had no difficulty seeing objects in the store. She was wearing shoes with leather soles and a one and one-half inch heel with a rubber tip. She did not know exactly how many steps she had taken inside the store before she fell but it was only a short distance. As she entered the store and before she fell she did not look at the floor and therefore does not know what its appearance was at the time. She testified she didn't pay any attention to it saying 'You just don't look at things like that. Ordinarily everything in stores is nice, well kept.' She stated that she did not look at the floor either before she fell or after she fell. She testified that she did not know what caused her to fall. She never made an inspection of the floor to determine what caused her to fall because, following her fall, she was suffering too much pain.
Raymond P. Smith testified that he was manager of the Sharp hardware store and had occupied this position for several years. He supervised seven emplioyees, including a porter. The floors in the store were constructed of asphalt tile. Concerning cleaning the floors he related that the floors were swept each morning and mopped once a week. The floors were waxed twice a year with a 'tree-wax' which did not require any buffing. He remembered the occasion when Mrs. Sproles fell on the floor and testified that the floor had been waxed a day or two before this occasion. In addition to the waxing the floor had been swept about two hours prior to Mrs. Sproles' fall with a sawdust mixture with an oil base. He said that the floors 'might have a little gloss' on them when they were clean or swept. He did not actually see Mrs. Sproles fall but his attention was directed to her on the floor. She was some ten or twelve feet inside the front door of the store on the floor. Following her fall he 'kicked his foot around in it on the floor' and said that it was not any more slippery than 'usual'. He observed no marks or scratches on the floor where Mrs. Sproles fell. He testified in answer to a question that he did not warn anyone about the floor being recently waxed and that no one had ever fallen or slipped on the floor before that time. He also said that he did not inspect the floor where Mrs. Sproles fell either before or afterwards but that he had walked over the floor several times during the two-day period following the waxing process and was familiar with the condition the floor was in at the time.
Appellants, in five points of error briefed together, contend that the trial court was in error in granting the motion for summary judgment filed by appellee corporation in that the record before the court demonstrated the issuable facts, i.e., (1) that appellee had breached its duty to Mrs. Sproles, a business invitee, by failing to properly inspect the waxed floor and to warn her of its slippery condition; and (2) that the question of whether the condition of the floor was open and obvious to Mrs. Sproles presented an issue of fact. Appellee, in its responding brief, contends that the record demonstrates conclusively (1) no duty on the part of appellee corporation to Mrs. Sproles; and (2) that Mrs. Sproles was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law which proximately caused her injuries.
In determining whether the trial court was correct in sustaining a motion for summary judgment our path of appellate review is well lighted by established principles enunciated by our Supreme Court in Great American Reserve Ins. Co. v. San Antonio Plumbing Supply Co., 391 S.W.2d 41 (1965). These rules, simply stated, are (1) the burden of proof is on the movant, and all doubt as to the existence of a genuine issue as to a material fact is resolved against him; (2) the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion; (3) if the motion involves the credibility of affiants or deponents, or the weight of the showings or a mere ground of inference, the motion should not be granted; and (4) all conflicts in the evidence are disregarded, and the evidence which tends to support the position of the party opposing the motion is accepted as true.
Guidelines for determining the liability of an owner or occupant of premises to an invitee are also clearly delineated.
While an occupier of the land or premises is not held by the law to be an insurer of the safety of invitees such occupier is required to keep his land or premises in reasonably safe condition for invitees, and has the duty thereunder to inspect and discover dangerous conditions, and if dangers are not open and obvious he has the duty to take such precautions as reasonably prudent persons would have taken to protect such invitees therefrom and to warn them thereof. Halepeska v. Callihan Interests, Inc., 371 S.W.2d 368 (Tex.Sup. 1963); Strakos v. Gehring, 360 S.W.2d 787 (Tex.Sup. 1962); Harvey v. Seale, 362 S.W.2d 310 (Tex.Sup. 1962); J. Weingarten, Inc. v. Tyra, 381 S.W.2d 215 (Tex.Civ.App., Tyler 1964); 40 Tex.Jur.2d, § 58, p. 532 et seq.
Parker Food Stores, Inc. v. Pierce, 374 S.W.2d 699 (Tex.Civ.App., Fort Worth 1964, writ ref'd n.r.e.); J. Weingarten, Inc. v. Tyra, 381 S.W.2d 215 (Tex.Civ.App., Tyler 1964).
Ordinarily a guest or invitee upon premises has the right to presume that such premises are kept in safe condition for his use and is under no legal obligation to search out defects. Blanks v. Southland Hotel, Inc., 149 Tex. 139, 229 S.W.2d 357 (1950); Triangle Motors of Dallas v. Richmond, 152 Tex. 354, 258 S.W.2d 60 (1953); City of Fort Worth v. Barlow, 313 S.W.2d 906 (Tex.Civ.App., Fort Worth 1958, writ ref'd n.r.e.). The liability of the owner or occupant for failure to render the premises safe for an invitee, or to warn him of dangers thereon, must be predicated on knowledge thereof which is superior to that of the invitee. Camp v. Kirkpatrick Co., 250 S.W.2d 413 (Tex.Civ.App., San Antonio 1952, writ ref'd n.r.e.); Halepeska v. Callihan Interests, Inc., 371 S.W.2d 368 (Tex.Sup. 1963).
"So in a suit by an invitee against the occupier, the invitee must not only prove that he was injured as a proximate result of encountering a condition on the premises involving an unreasonable risk of harm, but he must also prove, as part of the plaintiff's case, that the occupier owed him a Duty to take reasonable precautions to warn him or protect him from such danger, i.e., the plaintiff must negative 'no duty."
"The question is as to the actual knowledge and appreciation of this plaintiff, as distinguished from what she should have known and appreciated. She could not intelligently choose to encounter a risk of which she did not actually know, even if she should have known."
So, as Justice Greenhill explained, perhaps Mrs. Sproles, as a prudent person, Should have known and appreciated the danger, but she did not. This resolves itself into a question of contributory negligence.
Having concluded that the 'no duty' doctrine does not apply to the factual situation here presented, we move to the remaining question, to-wit, if there was a duty on the part of appellee to properly inspect and to warn, was Mrs. Sproles guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law in failing to keep the proper lookout for her own safety on the occasion in question?
such cases are relatively rare. Ordinarily this question is for the trier of facts and only becomes a matter of law for the court when but one reasonable conclusion can be drawn from all the testimony. (Citing cases.) It is obvious that had Day been more cautious, he would not have been injured. But whether the precautions he took amounted to due care was properly left to the jury."
"It is elementary that the question of contributory negligence is generally, by reason of the very nature of the defense, one of fact for the jury to decide. (Citing cases.) According to the authorities above cited and many others * * * 'In order that an act shall be deemed negligent per se, * * * it must appear so opposed to the dictates of common prudence that we can say, without hesitation or doubt, that no careful person would have committed it."
The Supreme Court in Blanks v. Southland Hotel, supra, pointed out that the defendant in that case invited the public, including the plaintiff, to come through the entrance of the store, thereby impliedly representing that it was safe for them to do so. In this case Mrs. Sproles had frequently been in the store in question but there is no evidence that she had ever been there soon after the floor had been waxed as on the occasion in question. Admittedly she did not look down at the floor either before or after she fell but, as pointed out above, a trier of fact might easily and logically conclude that the condition was discoverable more by feel than by sight. The record does not convince us without 'hesitation or doubt' that the action on the part of Mrs. Sproles on the occasion in question was so opposed to the dictates of common prudence that no careful person would have acted as she did under the circumstances. We believe that the question of her failure to keep a proper lookout for her own safety, and whether such failure was a proximate cause of her injuries, must be determined by a trier of fact.
Being of the opinion that the motion for summary judgment was improvidently granted, the judgment of the trial court must be reversed and remanded.

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