Civil Litigation
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Total Slip And Fall Cases: 7
When entering an order of summary judgment as to multiple defendants, the court must include factual findings and conclusions of law as to each count of a complaint.
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The amendments proposed by the committee are: (1) a new instruction MI 8.1 on negligent supply of false information under section 552 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts (1977), with minor modifications to instruction MI 8 on fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation. The word
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An employer was able to apply defensive collateral estoppel against the employee in the remanded state law cause of action where a federal court had decided there was no causal connection between a whistle blower
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The dismissal of an action is an acceptable sanction where a plaintiff gives blatantly false answers in a deposition and independent medical examination. The fact that a plaintiff disclosed the name of her doctor and admitted to some treatment did not make the sanction unreasonable. The concurring opinion expressed concern that plaintiffs should be authorized to obtain orders defaulting defendants for similar conduct if plaintiff conduct is going to result in dismissal.
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Morgan v. Campbell
27 Fla. L. Weekly D1148 (Fla. 2nd DCA, May 24, 2002)
2002-05-24
SLIP AND FALL
The Second District Court of Appeal held that a trial court has the inherent authority to dismiss an action as a sanction when the plaintiff has perpetrated a fraud on the court. However, this sanction should be imposed only on a "clear showing of fraud, pretense, collusion, or similar wrongdoing." The integrity of the civil litigation process depends on truthful disclosure of the facts and revealing only some of the facts does not constitute truthful disclosure.
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The Florida Supreme Court determined that the existence of an unsafe condition caused by a transitory foreign substance on the floor of a business premises creates a rebuttable presumption that the premises owner did not maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition. Once the plaintiff establishes that he or she fell as a result of a transitory foreign substance, a presumption of negligence arises and the burden shifts to the defendant to show by the greater weight of evidence that it exercised reasonable care in the maintenance of the premises under the circumstances. If the evidence establishes a specific negligent mode of operation such that the premises owner could reasonably anticipate that dangerous conditions would arise as a result of this mode of operation, whether the owner had actual or constructive knowledge of the transitory foreign substance is not an issue. A dispositive issue in such case is whether the specific mode of operation was negligent and whether the accident occurred as a result of that negligence. Thus, the court found that it was error to grant a directed verdict for the defendant supermarket when the evidence showed that the plaintiff had slipped and fallen after stepping on a discolored banana. The condition of the banana raised the basis for establishing the store
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Plaintiff filed a lawsuit against Shoney's after she slipped and fell while attempting to exit a Shoney's restaurant. In her complaint, she alleged that Shoney's breached the duty of care it owed her by negligently maintaining the floor in the area of the restaurant where the breakfast buffet was located. Plaintiff alleged that she stepped in food that had been dropped on the floor by other patrons who visited the buffet, causing her to slip and fall as she attempted to exit the restaurant. The court concluded that entry of a directed verdict for Shoney's was error. Evaluating the evidence in the light most favorable to Plaintiff and indulging all reasonable inferences therefrom in her favor, the court was unable to say that no reasonable jury could render a verdict for Plaintiff.
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