Corina Dawson Parker v. Hotel Lake Placid, LLC d/b/a Holiday Inn Express

Summary

The Sixth District Court of Appeal of Florida affirmed the circuit court's judgment in favor of Hotel Lake Placid, LLC d/b/a Holiday Inn Express. The court cited Florida premises-liability authority concerning an invitee's duty to exercise reasonable care and summary-judgment authority concerning the nonmoving party's burden to identify affirmative evidence of a genuine dispute of material fact.

Holdings

1. A proprietor may assume that an invitee will perceive conditions that would be obvious through the ordinary use of the invitee's senses, and the invitee remains obligated to exercise a reasonable degree of care for her own safety.
2. After the moving party meets its initial burden on summary judgment, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party, which must go beyond the pleadings and identify affirmative evidence creating a genuine dispute of material fact.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the circuit court properly resolved Parker's premises-liability claim in favor of Hotel Lake Placid under the governing rule concerning obvious conditions and an invitee's duty to exercise reasonable care for her own safety.
2. Whether the record contained sufficient affirmative evidence to create a genuine dispute of material fact under the summary-judgment standard.

Disposition

affirmed