William G. Hyland Jr. (DeLand, FL) (Premises Liability) obtained a Dismissal pursuant to the Court’s granting his Motion for Summary Judgment.
Plaintiff alleged that on March 13, 2018, she drove to a Wawa store in Auburndale, Florida. She parked next to a gas pump and exited her vehicle. She then began walking towards the front door of the Wawa store. While walking away from the gas pumps and toward the front door of the store, Plaintiff allegedly slipped and fell on the ground in the parking lot on “Oatmeal.” The incident was captured on surveillance video taken by Defendant.
As a result of the incident, the Plaintiff claimed severe injuries to her knees, hip, and back, claiming multiple herniated discs. The plaintiff had knee surgery incurring $108,923.26 in unpaid medical bills. She also underwent multiple injections. The Plaintiff attorney demanded $1,000,000 to settle.
The Defense moved and filed for Final Summary Judgment and was able to obtain the deposition testimony of the former store manager and present the videotape of the incident to the court at the MSJ hearing. We argued in our MSJ that there was absolutely no evidence that the defendant, WAWA, had actual or constructive notice of any foreign substance on the ground causing the plaintiff’s slip and fall. In sworn testimony, the former manager testified that there were no previous slip and fall incidents at this store near the fuel pumps where this incident occurred, either that day or at any time prior. Thus, there was a complete lack of evidence presented by Plaintiff in her deposition or in the deposition of former store manager, Kayleigh Tinjar, of any negligence on the part of Defendant.
The court ruled that Plaintiff had not established a prima facie case of negligence under Section 768.0755 Florida Statutes, as Plaintiff did not present sufficient evidence that WAWA had any actual or constructive notice of any foreign substance or dangerous condition that caused this incident. Due to a lack of evidence of any negligence on the part of Defendant, the Court entered an Order granting Summary Judgment in its favor on 6/6/2023.