Court Opinion

ID: 9563627
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:43:42.451803+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:58.748879
License: Public Domain

Judge John
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
Plaintiff in her deposition testimony stated she had “no idea” how long the grapes had been on the store floor and that she did not know where they came from or how they or the water got on the floor. She also indicated she had no knowledge that any employees of defendant were aware of water or grapes on the floor where she fell. Defendant’s evidence in no way provided this information, and defendant thus carried its summary judgment burden of demonstrating the absence of an essential element of plaintiff’s claim, i.e., actual or constructive notice on the part of defendant of the condition alleged to have caused plaintiff’s fall. See Roumillat v. Simplistic Enterprises, Inc., 331 N.C. 57, 64, 414 S.E.2d 339, 343 (1992), Farrelly v. Hamilton Square, 119 N.C. App. 541, 544, 459 S.E.2d 23, 26 (1995), Padgett v. J.C. Penny Co., Inc., 112 N.C. App. 842, 845, 437 S.E.2d 401, 403 (1993), Hill v. Supermarkets, 42 N.C. App. 442, 448, 257 S.E.2d 68, 71 (1979), Hinson v. Cato’s, Inc., 271 N.C. 738, 739, 157 S.E.2d 537, 538 (1967), Smith v. Hickory, 252 N.C. 316, 318, 113 *243S.E.2d 557, 559 (1960), Revis v. Orr, 234 N.C. 158, 160-61, 66 S.E.2d 652, 654 (1951), and France v. Winn-Dixie Supermarket, 70 N.C. App. 492, 492, 320 S.E.2d 25, 25 (1984), disc. review denied, 313 N.C. 329, 327 S.E.2d 889 (1985).
Moreover, the record further reflects plaintiff’s contributory negligence. The majority properly notes established law that one who “does not discover and avoid an obvious defect . . . will usually be considered to have been contributorily negligent as a matter of law.” However, the majority further relies on Price v. Jack Eckerd Corporation, 100 N.C. App. 732, 736, 398 S.E.2d 49, 52 (1990) as creating a jury question concerning plaintiff’s contributory negligence, asserting that “a reasonably prudent person’s attention could easily be diverted by advertisements or fruit and vegetable displays.”
In Price, evidence was presented that the plaintiff sought directions from an Eckerd’s employee to locate a product. Id. Thereafter,
the cashier pointed toward the prescription department. The plaintiff looked toward the prescription department and noticed advertisements hanging from the ceiling. Paying attention to the cashier’s directions, the plaintiff turned and began walking.
Id. The plaintiff then tripped over a box on the store floor. Id.
Evidence in the Price record thus raised an issue of fact regarding whether the plaintiff’s attention was diverted by the cashier’s pointing or by the advertisements. The majority herein perceives an issue of fact to be raised by its unsubstantiated determination that plaintiff’s “attention could easily [have been] diverted” (emphasis added) and not by any evidence in the record tending to show plaintiff’s attention indeed was diverted.
Based on the foregoing, I vote to affirm the trial court’s grant of summary judgment.
I further dissent from the majority’s artificial division of the issue of defendant’s negligence into “active” and “passive” categories. While negligence may indeed be characterized as active or passive, the majority cites no decision of our courts setting out such a differentiation for purposes of summary judgment analysis. In the case sub judice, the distinction is at best unnecessary and potentially confusing.
Finally, I dissent from any implication in the majority opinion that would require the trial court, or this Court on appeal, to evaluate the *244evidence as to every material fact and to render a summary judgment decision as to each. The time-honored rule is that if “a [single] genuine issue of material fact does exist, the motion for summary judgment must be denied.” Vassey v. Burch, 301 N.C. 68, 73, 269 S.E.2d 137, 140 (1980) (citation omitted) (emphasis added).