Court Opinion

ID: 9712916
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:02:58.803652+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:15.261763
License: Public Domain

White, J.,
dissenting.
I disagree with the majority holding that an individual who mistakes a glass panel for an open space, and is injured as a result, is contributorily negligent as a matter of law.
In tort cases of the kind where reasonable minds may differ as to whether an inference of negligence or contributory negligence is to be drawn from a given set of facts, summary judgment can have no application. Pfeifer v. Pfeifer, 195 Neb. 369, 238 N.W.2d 451 (1976).
*805While this court has not had occasion to review a plate glass collision case before, many jurisdictions have. In a great many instances the plaintiff has succeeded not only in having his cause submitted to the jury but in securing a judgment. The case which is perhaps most similar to the present case is Scott v. Mercer Steel/Edwards Realty, 263 Or. 464, 503 P.2d 1242 (1972). In that case a woman entered a realty office through an open doorway and went to the rear of the room to examine some maps. She turned to leave, saw the open door in its propped-open position adjacent to a glass panel, and assumed the glass panel was the doorway. She collided with the glass panel and suffered an injury to her leg. The jury awarded her damages, despite the existence of a ledge at the base of the window, as was present here, and despite the fact that she had entered the room through that same open doorway only moments before. On appeal the owner of the premises argued the same principles which the majority in this case has set forth. The Supreme Court of Oregon rejected the argument, and found that there was evidence from which the jury could properly find that the unmarked glass panel created a deceptive appearance involving an unreasonable risk of harm so as to impose liability on the owner.
There are several other jurisdictions which have pointed out that the question of the injured plaintiff’s negligence in these types of cases cannot be determined as a matter of law. I find these authorities much more persuasive. See, National Bank of Alaska v. McHugh, 416 P.2d 239 (Alaska 1966); Jaillet v. Godfried Home Bakeries, Inc., 354 Mass. 267, 236 N.E.2d 924 (1968); Grabel v. Handro Co., 161 N.Y.S.2d 998 (City Ct. of N.Y. 1955); Escribano v. Luby Chevrolet, Inc., 181 So. 2d 748 (Fla. App. 1966); Blanco v. J. C. Penney Co., 251 Md. 707, 248 A.2d 645 (1968); Perry v. Eastgreen Realty Co., 53 Ohio St. 2d 51, 372 N.E.2d 335 (1978).
The fact that so many cases result in judgments in *806favor of the injured plaintiff indicates that reasonable minds can and do differ as to whether an individual is negligent or contributorily negligent in these types of cases. The transparency of glass can deceive even the most prudent person. As such, the issue is one which, in my opinion, cannot be determined as a matter of law. Summary judgment was not appropriate, and I would reverse.
Krivosha, C.J., joins in this dissent.