Opinion ID: 1694932
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: whether the order granting summary judgment should be reversed.

Text: ¶ 7. Fairley's sole issue presented for appeal is whether this Court should overturn the George County Circuit Court's order granting summary judgment for George County. The procedural history of Seymour v. Brunswick Corp . almost mirrors the procedural history in this case and an examination of those facts suggests the proper outcome for the case at bar. ¶ 8. After being injured by an outboard motor propeller blade while attempting to get into a boat, the plaintiff, Elizabeth Seymour, sued the manufacturer of the boat motor and the driver of the motor boat under theories of products liability and negligence. Seymour, 655 So.2d at 894. The trial court awarded summary judgment for the manufacturer holding the propeller blade was an open and obvious danger. Id. At the time the order was entered, an open and obvious danger defense completely barred recovery. While the case was still pending against the boat driver, this Court decided Sperry-New Holland v. Prestage, 617 So.2d 248 (Miss. 1993), which implemented a risk-utility analysis for products liability cases and stated that the openness and obviousness of the danger was but one factor to consider when determining damages and was no longer a complete bar to recovery. Seymour, 655 So.2d at 895. The trial court proceedings were then concluded with regard to the boat driver, and Seymour appealed the summary judgment. Id. at 894. This Court found granting summary judgment was improper and reversed the order. Significantly, in its conclusion the Court stated the following: The trial judge's decision was proper when made, for which he is not to be faulted, but, in light of the Court's subsequent and recent decisions in Sperry-New Holland, [Tharp v. ]Bunge [, 641 So.2d 20 (1994)], and Tate[ v. Southern Jitney Jungle Co., 650 So.2d 1347 (1995)], the granting of summary judgment must be reversed.... Seymour, 655 So.2d at 896. This Court has also reversed cases pending on appeal from summary judgment when Reaves was decided where the trial court had applied the strict compliance standard. See Trosclair v. Miss. Dep't Of Transp., 757 So.2d 178 (Miss.2000); Lattimore v. City of Laurel, 735 So.2d 400 (Miss.1999). ¶ 9. Fairley concedes the trial court was correct when it granted summary judgment for George County applying the strict compliance standard. However, she correctly notes this court has subsequently abolished the strict compliance standard the judge used to grant summary judgment. See Carr v. Town of Shubuta, 733 So.2d 261, 263 (Miss.1999); Reaves ex rel. Rouse v. Randall, 729 So.2d 1237 (Miss. 1998). Since the notice requirement changed between the time the summary judgment order was entered and the proceedings before the trial court came to an end, one question remains unanswered: whether George County is entitled to summary judgment applying the substantial compliance standard. As the record before us is not fully developed in this regard, we reverse the order granting George County summary judgment and remand for a determination by the trial court whether Fairley substantially complied with the notice requirements of the MTCA.