Two Summary Judgments in One Week (Lee County, FL and Collier County, FL)
Congratulations to Naples partner Heidi Panepinto, who obtained back to back summary judgments during the same week in late September.
Case 1: Lee County, FL; General Negligence
We represented a mental health care facility in this hotly contested general negligence action arising out of allegations of neglect of a vulnerable adult in violation of Florida’s Adult Protective Services Act.
The individual was Baker Acted by law enforcement and transported to our client facility with only the clothes on her back and her driver’s license. Upon being admitted, she was evaluated by a psychiatrist who determined she was a competent adult, capable of functioning independently in the community. She was started on medications and quickly stabilized. She declined to sign any Releases of Information; therefore the facility was legally prohibited from disclosing her PHI to third parties. Upon her discharge, she tried to call family to pick her up, but they didn’t answer. She refused to let our client try to contact them and requested a bus pass instead. She was given a bus pass, route, and map. When she did not return home timely, her mother contacted our client for an update and was advised that her daughter had been discharged two days earlier. After a two-day investigation, the patient’s recently deceased body was discovered behind a bush close to the bus stop near her parents’ house. The autopsy concluded she died from natural causes secondary to dehydration.
Decedent’s family sued our client facility for neglect of a vulnerable adult in violation of Section 415.1111, F.S. We filed a motion for summary judgment on two issues: 1) Our client owed no duty to Decedent after she was lawfully and legally discharged from the facility, and 2) Our client had no legal authority to disclose Decedent’s PHI to third parties without her verbal and/or written consent to do so. The hearing on our Motion for Summary Judgment went forward in early August. The Judge reserved ruling, and granted summary judgment in our favor of our client on September 18.
Case 2: Collier County, FL; Premises Liability
This was a premises liability matter arising from an alleged slip and fall that occurred in the parking lot of a popular Naples resort. Plaintiff alleged that she slipped and fell on a dead palm frond after stepping out of her vehicle, and that the fall caused her to have a seizure, as well as neck and back injuries. Plaintiff claimed Defendant was negligent for failing to warn her about the dangerous condition and for failing to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition. During her deposition, Plaintiff testified that she didn’t see the palm frond despite it being broad daylight and sunny. She also testified that she didn’t know how long the palm frond had been on the ground, and had no evidence that the hotel knew or should have known it was there.
Hotel staff testified that they had no knowledge that the palm frond was there prior to the incident, they had no idea how long it was there, and that the parking lot was inspected frequently by several employees throughout the day, who were all trained to pick up and remove debris such as this. Summary judgment was sought on the grounds that Defendant had availed itself of both the duty to warn and duty to reasonably maintain, because the condition was open and obvious and not inherently dangerous, and Plaintiff’s own inattentiveness is what caused her to slip and fall. The Court agreed, and summary judgment was granted in our client’s favor.
Congratulations Heidi on this excellent work on behalf of our clients.
