Abbey Adams Logo

Defending Liability, Employment Claims and Appeals Since 1982

  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Phone
  • Home
  • Locations
    • Where We Practice in Florida
    • Where We Are Available to Practice In Illinois
  • Practices
  • Blog
  • Attorneys
    • David J. Abbey
    • Jeffrey M. Adams
    • Robert P. Byelick
    • Jennifer J. Kennedy
    • John D. Kiernan (1947-2016)
    • V. Joseph Mueller
    • Elisabeth K. Eubanks
  • Links
  • Contact Us

December 21, 2018 by Jennifer Kennedy

Torts — Automobile accident — Negligence — Proximate cause — Claim that homeowner’s association, which allowed street parking in contravention of rules, was the proximate cause of a rear-end collision which occurred while plaintiffs were stopped waiting for another vehicle to pass through parked cars on the street — While association’s failure to enforce parking rules was a cause-in-fact of the accident, its negligence only furnished the occasion for the negligence of the driver that struck plaintiffs — Driver’s negligence was not reasonably foreseeable by association, and the failure to enforce parking rules was not the proximate cause of plaintiffs’ injuries

44 Fla. L. Weekly D43a

Torts — Automobile accident — Negligence — Proximate cause — Claim that homeowner’s association, which allowed street parking in contravention of rules, was the proximate cause of a rear-end collision which occurred while plaintiffs were stopped waiting for another vehicle to pass through parked cars on the street — While association’s failure to enforce parking rules was a cause-in-fact of the accident, its negligence only furnished the occasion for the negligence of the driver that struck plaintiffs — Driver’s negligence was not reasonably foreseeable by association, and the failure to enforce parking rules was not the proximate cause of plaintiffs’ injuries 

SEMINOLE LAKES HOMEOWNER’S ASSOCIATION, INC., a Florida corporation, Appellant, v. SHELDON ESNARD and MARY ANN ESNARD, his wife, Appellees. 4th District. Case No. 4D18-15. December 19, 2018. Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County; Cymonie S. Rowe, Judge; L.T. Case No. 2014-CA-005525 (AO). Counsel: Thomas L. Hunker of Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A., Plantation, and Lissette Gonzalez of Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A., Miami, for appellant. Andrew A. Harris and Nichole J. Segal of Burlington & Rockenbach, P.A., West Palm Beach, and Joseph R. Fields, Jr. of Fields Legal, LLC, West Palm Beach, for appellees.

(KANNER, DANIEL J., Associate Judge.) Seminole Lakes Homeowner’s Association, Inc. appeals a final judgment entered after jury trial verdict in favor of Sheldon and Mary Esnard. Seminole Lakes contends that the trial court erred by not granting its motion for directed verdict on the issue of proximate causation. Seminole Lakes also appeals on two other grounds. We agree and reverse on the issue of proximate causation rendering the other two issues moot.

This case arose out of a car accident between the Esnards and Dedric Upshur which occurred inside the Seminole Lakes community. Upshur rear-ended the Esnards while they were stopped waiting for two trucks to pass between two parked cars on the street. The Esnards sought damages against Seminole Lakes on the basis that Seminole Lakes was negligent and proximately caused the Esnards’ damages by permitting homeowners and their guests to park on both sides of the community’s streets contrary to its governing documents. The jury found that Seminole Lakes’ negligence was a legal cause of the Esnards damages and apportioned fault with 30% to Seminole Lakes and 70% to Upshur.

Seminole Lakes is a community of single family homes and townhomes located in the Village of Royal Palm Beach, Florida. At the time of the accident, the Esnards were renting a townhome in Seminole Lakes. The Association’s restrictive covenants provide that owners and guests shall park in their driveways or garages or designated common area spaces. In 2009, the board realized that there was a severe parking problem within the community and made the decision to allow overnight street parking, despite the fact that the Village of Royal Palm Beach Code prohibits any street parking which interferes with the flow traffic. As a result, vehicles parked on both sides of the street in various sections of the community. Occasionally, this circumstance would only allow one car to pass between two parked vehicles.

One evening in 2013, Mr. and Mrs. Esnard were returning home to their residence where they encountered such a circumstance. While they waited behind a truck for another truck to pass between two cars, they were rear- ended by Upshur. The Esnards’ car was totaled and Mr. Esnard suffered injuries as a result of the accident.

The case proceeded to trial. At the close of the Esnards’ case, Seminole Lakes moved for a directed verdict maintaining that Seminole Lakes’ allowing cars to park on the street was not a proximate cause of the accident.

The issue of proximate causation is generally an issue for the trier of fact; however, there are instances where the issue should be decided as a matter of law. The Supreme Court of Florida held in Nat’l Airlines, Inc. v. Edwards, 336 So. 2d 545, 547 (Fla. 1976) (quoting Kwoka v. Campbell, 296 So. 2d 629, 631 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974)): “The question of proximate cause is one for the court where there is an active and efficient intervening cause.”

The Second District Court of Appeal further explained the issue of proximate causation in Mathews v. Williford, 318 So. 2d 480, 481-83 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975):

The law is well settled in this state that a remote condition or conduct which furnishes only the occasion for someone else’s supervening negligence is not a proximate cause of the result of the subsequent negligence.

* * *

In short, conduct prior to an injury or death is not legally significant in an action for damages like this, unless it is a legal or proximate cause of the injury or death-as opposed to a cause of the remote conditions or occasion for the later negligence.

“[H]arm is ‘proximate’ in a legal sense if prudent human foresight would lead one to expect that similar harm is likely to be substantially caused by the specific act or omission in question.” McCain v. Fla. Power Corp., 593 So. 2d 500, 503 (Fla. 1992). Obviously, the facts of every case are different and must be analyzed in their entirety.

In Pope v. Cruise Boat Co., Inc., 380 So. 2d 1151 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980), the pedestrian plaintiff chose to walk on the shoulder of a county street running in front of the defendant’s business. The plaintiff “came upon a boat on a trailer and two pickup trucks parked perpendicular to the street on the shoulder, but not protruding into the street.” Id. at 1152. The plaintiff was struck by a truck when she stepped off the shoulder into the street in an attempt to go around the boat. Id. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant breached its duty to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition and that the issue of negligence should have been a question for the jury. Id. The Third District Court of Appeal held that the defendant’s conduct of permitting the parking condition was not a proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury because it merely furnished the occasion for the plaintiff’s own negligence in stepping into oncoming traffic, noting that the plaintiff “chose[ ] to walk the shoulder of the road rather than the sidewalk on the other side of the same street.” Id. at 1152-53. The Third District Court later elaborated on its ruling in Stahl v. Metro. Dade Cty., 438 So. 2d 14, 23 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983), explaining that the accident in Pope was an unusual, unforeseeable event:

[I]t was not a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the defendant’s negligence that the plaintiff pedestrian would react in such an unusual manner. The plaintiff pedestrian plainly had no momentum problem as she travelled on foot alongside the road and could have easily come to a complete stop upon encountering the subject vehicles on the shoulder; in fact, that is what one, as a matter of law, would reasonably expect. Her decision thereafter to step onto the road without looking, whereupon she was hit by a car, was an unexpected, highly unusual event, and therefore an unforeseeable intervening cause for which the defendant was not responsible. There was causation-in-fact in that case, but the result was considered too extraordinary and too unforeseeable to be considered a proximate cause of the defendant’s negligence.

The same analysis applies to the present case. While the vehicles parked on the side of the street caused traffic to slow or even stop, it cannot be said that this was a proximate cause of the Esnards’ damages. It is within common experience while driving on the streets of Florida to encounter traffic that is slowed or stopped for any number of reasons. The law requires every driver to maintain a safe distance from the traffic in front of them to avoid rear-end collisions.

In this case, the evidence showed that the Esnards had been stopped for a period of time before Upshur collided with them. The parking situation was patently obvious to any and all drivers using the streets in Seminole Lakes. There was no evidence that the Esnards were forced to make a sudden emergency stop or otherwise take evasive action to avoid the parked vehicles. This court sees no difference between this situation and a car being stopped behind a city bus waiting to pick up passengers. While Seminole Lakes’ failure to enforce the parking rules was a cause-infact of the accident, its negligence only furnished the occasion for Upshur’s negligence.

In light of all of the evidence, including the lack of any prior incidents of this nature, and the general conditions of this residential neighborhood, we hold that Upshur’s negligence was not reasonably foreseeable by Seminole Lakes, and the failure to enforce its parking rules was not the proximate cause of the Esnards’ injuries. See Las Olas Holding Co. v. Demella, 228 So. 3d 97 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017).

Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s denial of Seminole Lakes’ motion for directed verdict, and remand for entry of a judgment in favor of Seminole Lakes.

Reversed and Remanded. (DAMOORGIAN and KLINGENSMITH, JJ., concur.)

* * *

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Insurance — Homeowners — All-risk policy — Coverage — Cracking damage to home caused by blasting vibrations from nearby rock quarry — Exclusions — Earth or soil movement — Wear and tear, marking, deterioration, settling, shrinking, bulging, or expansion — Concurrent causes — Trial court did not err in denying insurer’s motion for directed verdict based on policy’s exclusion of coverage for earth sinking, rising, or shifting or soil movement resulting from blasting — Insurer’s position was based upon mischaracterization of testimony by insureds’ expert, who was steadfast in his opinion that none of the damage to home resulted from soil or earth movement, but was instead the result of shock waves from blasting that caused the house to shake — Based upon competing expert testimony, jury could have reasonably concluded that it was shock waves, not soil or earth movement, that caused damage — Jury instructions — Covered and excluded perils — Concurrent cause doctrine — Trial court did not err by instructing jury that land shock waves from blasting in combination with wear and tear, marring, deterioration, settling, shrinking, bulging, or expansion was not excluded under policy — Although policy’s earth movement exclusion contained an explicit anti-concurrent cause provision, this provision would have come into play only if jury had first determined that one of the causes of damage was earth movement — Judgment in favor of insureds affirmed
  • Insurance — Homeowners — Discovery — Work product — Claims files — Appeals — Certiorari — Trial court did not depart from essential requirements of the law by compelling insurer to produce documents from its claims and underwriting files — Documents in claims and underwriting files are not automatically work product — Insurer’s assertion of work-product privilege was overly broad, and insurer did not argue or prove that the requested documents were prepared in anticipation of litigation
  • Wrongful death — Medical malpractice — Vicarious liability — Punitive damages — Amendment of complaint — Allegation that defendant, through its president, committed acts of intentional misconduct or gross negligence by assigning a nurse practitioner to provide after-hours care to a patient with highly complex problems that were beyond nurse practitioner’s permissible scope of practice — Trial court erred by granting plaintiff’s motion to amend complaint to assert claim for punitive damages — Plaintiff failed to demonstrate a reasonable basis for award of punitive damages based on intentional conduct where evidence was insufficient to show that defendant’s president either knew or otherwise intended for nurse practitioner to independently order medical treatment for patient outside the scope of nurse practitioner’s practice without consulting president — Furthermore, there was insufficient evidence demonstrating that defendant’s president condoned or ratified nurse practitioner’s independent treatment with actual knowledge of a high probability that doing so would result in additional harm or death to patient — Plaintiff failed to demonstrate a reasonable basis for award of punitive damages based on gross negligence where facts of case did not show that defendant, through its president or nurse practitioner, evinced a reckless or conscious disregard of or indifference to human life
  • Torts — Negligent hiring — Punitive damages — Trial court departed from essential requirements of law in granting motion to amend complaint to add claim for punitive damages against employer of driver who crashed company car into plaintiff’s vehicle — Proffered evidence was not sufficient to establish reasonable basis for finding that defendant was grossly negligent when it allegedly hired employee without conducting adequate pre-employment screening, obtaining a driving and criminal history, and confirming that employee held valid driver’s license — Proffered evidence was either not directly related to allegation that employer was grossly negligent or sufficiently refuted by defendant
  • Torts — Negligent hiring — Punitive damages — Trial court departed from essential requirements of law in granting motion to amend complaint to add claim for punitive damages against employer of driver who crashed company car into plaintiff’s vehicle — Proffered evidence was not sufficient to establish reasonable basis for finding that defendant was grossly negligent when it allegedly hired employee without conducting adequate pre-employment screening, obtaining a driving and criminal history, and confirming that employee held valid driver’s license — Proffered evidence was either not directly related to allegation that employer was grossly negligent or sufficiently refuted by defendant

Blog Archives

Footer

The materials available at this website are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Use of and access to this Website or any of the e-mail links contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship between Abbey, Adams, Byelick & Mueller, L.L.P. and the user or browser. The opinions expressed at or through this site are the opinions of the individual author and may not reflect the opinions of the firm or any individual attorney. opens in a new windowAbbey, Adams, Byelick, & Mueller XML Sitemap Index

Copyright © 2023 · Abbey Adams Byelick & Mueller, LLP · All Rights Reserved · Defending Liability, Employment Claims and Appeals Since 1982