Ravich Law Firm, P.A. is pleased to release its 2014 Florida Aviation and Space Law Report.
Among the cases reported there is Kenz v. Miami-Dade County, an interesting lawsuit involving the burden of proof in airport slip and fall cases.
After slipping on liquid and falling
at Miami International Airport, a pedestrian filed suit against Miami-Dade
County, alleging permanent injuries. At
the time suit was filed, Fla. Stat. § 768.0710 (2002) was in
effect, providing that in a negligence action involving a transitory foreign
substance in a business establishment, “[a]ctual or constructive notice of the
transitory foreign object or substance is not a required element of proof to
this claim.”
After suit was filed, but before trial commenced, Fla. Stat.
§ 768.0755 (2010) took effect and
superseded Fla. Stat. § 768.0710,
effectively returning Florida law to an earlier status, and providing that a
person who slips and falls on a transitory foreign substance in a business
establishment “must prove that the business establishment had actual or constructive
knowledge of the dangerous condition and should have taken action to remedy it.” Miami-Dade County subsequently filed a motion
seeking a determination that § 768.0755 was applicable to the case and that the
statute should apply retroactively because it was procedural in nature, rather
than substantive.
Miami-Dade Circuit
Court Judge Spencer Eig entered summary judgment adverse to the plaintiff given
the absence of any proof the county had actual or constructive notice of any dangerous
condition. Florida’s Third District
Court of Appeal affirmed given the procedural nature of issues relating to a
party’s burden of proof.
