Opinion ID: 1602788
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Did the Trial Court Err in Granting Summary Judgment in Favor of the VFW?

Text: Because May brought a negligence claim against the VFW, he had to prove by a preponderance of the evidence: duty, breach of duty, proximate cause and damages. Foster v. Bass, 575 So.2d 967, 972 (Miss. 1990); Palmer v. Biloxi Regional Medical Center, Inc., 564 So.2d 1346, 1354 (Miss. 1990); Phillips v. Hull, 516 So.2d 488, 491-92 (Miss. 1987). Only when the first two items are shown is it possible to proceed to a consideration of proximate cause since a duty and breach of that duty are essential to a finding of negligence under the traditional and accepted formula. Foster, 575 So.2d at 972. At the hearing on the summary judgment motion and in its brief on appeal, the VFW relies appropriately on Grisham v. John Q. Long VFW Post, No. 4057, Inc., 519 So.2d 413 (1988), in arguing that its duty was limited at most to exercising reasonable care to protect May and the other party goers from reasonably foreseeable injury at the hands of other patrons. In Grisham, two ex-wives of the same man attended a dance at a VFW Post in Tupelo. The post sold beer and allowed patrons to bring their own spirits. As one of the women, Mabeline, exited the post, the other ex-wife, Hazel, standing outside of the door, struck her with a bottle enclosed in a paper bag. 519 So.2d at 414. A member of the band that was playing that night went to Mabeline's aid. The VFW officials then were informed of the matter, but responded that they were too tied up to come out. Id. Subsequently, she filed suit against the VFW alleging that it was negligent for, inter alia, failing to keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition; failing to provide security personnel to protect guests from physical harm; failing to supervise and regulate the conduct of and activities so as to protect guests from physical harm; failing to assist her when members were informed of her injury; failing to exercise ordinary care in the discharge of its responsibilities to prevent and protect patrons from such incidents; and allowing an atmosphere of violence to exist or develop on its premises. Id. at 414-15. The trial court entered a summary judgment order in the VFW's favor. This Court affirmed. Noting that the VFW was not an insurer of Mabeline's safety, this Court held that the limit of VFW's duty was to exercise reasonable care to protect Mabeline from reasonably foreseeable injury at the hands of another. Id. at 419 (emphasis added). Kelly v. Retzer and Retzer, 417 So.2d 556 (Miss. 1982) [1] More particularly, an owner may be liable for the acts of a third person only when he has cause to anticipate the wrongful or negligent act. Grisham, 519 So.2d at 417. [2] The requisite `cause to anticipate' the assault may arise from 1) actual or constructive knowledge of the assailant's violent nature, or 2) actual or constructive knowledge that an atmosphere of violence exists [on or about the premises.] Id. at 416-17. Nothing in the record demonstrates that the VFW could have been alerted to Triplett's impending actions. While he was at the bar, he did not appear to be drunk or boisterous. He only drank beer and shot pool and played other amusement games. The record does not support a conclusion that the VFW was the local bar room brawl type of establishment. See, e.g. Allen v. Babrab, Inc., 438 So.2d 356, 357 (Fla. 1983) (club had a history of fighting and other disturbances). Nonetheless, the VFW required the sponsors of the benefit to provide security. Consequently, the sponsors provided two security guards, and at least one of the guards broke up the fight between Triplett and May immediately. Furthermore, although May has insisted that the VFW was negligent in failing to provide adequate security, he failed to make a showing that an increased number of security guards would have prevented the attack. Grisham, 519 So.2d at 417. The fact that the attack or altercation happened in a quick and unexpected manner also strikes against May's assertion that the VFW was negligent. The actors both agree that the altercation occurred quickly. As a matter of fact, May explained: ... I felt somebody tap me on the shoulder, and said, do you remember the 7-11, and I leaned forward in my chair like that and turned around to see who it was, and that's when I saw him hit me and that's the last thing I remember because I went out.       ... I didn't even get a chance to stand up or nothing. Supp.Vol. I, T. 23, 24. In Kelly, although this Court relied on the decedent's voluntary intervention into the affray in determining that the defendants could not be liable for his death on its premises, we noted that the encounter was sudden and spontaneous. 417 So.2d at 561. Other courts similarly have considered this criterion in determining whether a defendant could be held liable for the actions of a third-party against one of its patrons. See, e.g., Papadimas v. Mykonos Lounge, 439 N.W.2d 280, 283 (Mich. App. 1989) (summary judgment appropriate because the incident ... occurred suddenly, unexpectedly, and to the complete surprise of the witnesses.); Delgado v. Laboucherie, Inc., 508 So.2d 956, 957-958 (La. App. 1987) (incident occurred very quickly, and that there was nothing that could have been done to prevent it    attack on plaintiff was sudden and could not have been reasonably prevented by defendants or their employees ... [S]cuffle broke out quickly); White v. HA, Inc. 782 P.2d 1125, 1131 (Wyo. 1989) (plaintiff failed to make even the threshold showing that [defendant] was placed on notice of impending danger to him.). Because of the spontaneity of the event in question, it is inconceivable that the VFW reasonably could have protected May from Triplett's attack. From this evidence it is apparent that May has failed to establish a breach of the premises owner's duty to exercise reasonable care to protect May from reasonably foreseeable injury.
May erroneously relies on several cases and insists that the VFW must be liable because Triplett was an employee, and he may have been at the benefit to perform his job. May asserts that because Triplett had cleaned up the hall on prior occasions on the night after an event that he may have come to do the same on this night. All of the evidence indicates otherwise. Triplett testified that he never cleaned up the dance hall at night immediately after a dance, but he did so the following morning. His other testimony revealed that he was not on call to clean up the hall on that night. Moreover, he never really had to clean up the area after a group had used the facilities because [e]verybody always cleaned up after themselves. Moreover, even if Triplett was present to clean up the area, it does not follow the VFW would be liable. In Odier v. Sumrall, 353 So.2d 1370, 1372 (Miss. 1978), this Court discussed the liability of an employer for his employee's actions: It is of course established that the master is responsible for the torts of his servant only when they are committed within the scope of his employment. The test used in determining whether an employee's tortious act is within the scope of his employment is whether it was done in the course of and as a means to the accomplishment of the purposes of the employment and therefore in furtherance of the master's business ... This Court again elaborated on these points in Seedkem South, Inc. v. Lee, stating that: [t]he test of the employer's liability for the act of an employee who departs from the employer's business for purposes of his own is whether he was engaged in his employer's business at the time of the accident, and not whether he purposed [sic] to resume it. The employee is, so long as he is engaged in affairs of his own or in pursuing some purpose unrelated to his master's business, acting as much outside the scope of his employment as he would be were his working day ended, or his task completed, and thus his employer is relieved from liability for the consequence of any tortious conduct committed by the employee during that period, however short it may be... . 391 So.2d 990, 995 (Miss. 1980) (citation omitted) (emphasis in original). Obviously, Triplett's fight with an adversary from years ago was not within the scope of his employment as a janitor. There is nothing whatsoever to suggest that his altercation with May was in anyway in furtherance of VFW's business. As the VFW asserts in its brief, Triplett's presence at the V.F.W. hall on the night of the altercation was no different than that of the `bag boy' at the local Kroger who goes back to the grocery store after working hours to buy groceries and ends up in a fight with another customer in the frozen food section.
This Court has reiterated the law of summary judgment in a litany of cases. In determining whether the trial court was proper in granting a motion for summary judgment, we conduct de novo review. The law governing the grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment is well established. The evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party against whom the motion has been made. If in this view the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, summary judgment should forthwith be entered in his favor. Otherwise the motion should be denied. In evaluating the evidence that was before the trial court, there can be but one conclusion. The V.F.W. was not negligent. It had no knowledge of what was to happen. Triplett never had exhibited a propensity for violence. He was not intoxicated. He showed no violent intentions or behavior prior to the incident. Moreover, the fight occurred in such a quick manner, the V.F.W. could not have done anything to prevent it. In addition, the security personnel acted promptly in breaking up the fight. See, Grisham, 519 So.2d at 417. Reviewing the evidence de novo, this Court must come to the same conclusion as the trial court. Based on the foregoing, we affirm. AFFIRMED. ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., HAWKINS and DAN M. LEE, P.JJ., and PRATHER, ROBERTSON, SULLIVAN, PITTMAN and McRAE, JJ., concur.