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Piggly Wiggly of Greenwood12/11/2001
DATE OF TRIAL COURT JUDGMENT: 11/03/1999
TRIAL JUDGE: HON. BETTY W. SANDERS
COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: BOLIVAR COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY
TRIAL COURT DISPOSITION: $100,000 AWARD FOR DAMAGES TO FLORIDA FIPPS
DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED - 12/11/2001
. Florida Fipps slipped and fell while shopping in a Piggly Wiggly in Greenwood. Ms. Fipps fell when she stepped into a puddle of vomit which was on the floor. The jury awarded Ms. Fipps $200,000 for damages but reduced the amount to $100,000 per her own negligence. After the court denied the various motions offered by the defense, the defendants perfected this appeal.
. Piggly Wiggly and Ricky Harvey's issues are whether the trial court erred when it denied Appellants' motions for summary judgment, directed verdict, JNOV, in limine. Also, whether it erred in refusing to allow the warning sign into evidence and in denying Appellants' motion for remittitur. Finding that the trial court committed no error, we affirm.
FACTS
. Fipps broke her leg on November 7, 1996, in Piggly Wiggly by falling in a puddle of vomit located on the floor. The puddle of vomit was marked by the security guard on duty upon his noticing it. The manager on duty was Ricky Harvey and he was notified of the vomit by his security guard. The crux of the dispute lies in the question of the amount of time the vomit was on the floor before the store acted upon it.
. The stories offered by either side conflict regarding the length of time that the vomit was on the floor prior to action by the store. Testimony was offered by Fipps's friend, Cora Roberts, in which she claimed that she saw the vomit on the floor some twenty minutes before Fipps slipped and fell in it. The store offered the testimony of the security guard who claimed to have repeatedly walked the store on his security route. He testified that each of these sweeps took approximately five minutes. He said there was no vomit on the floor during the security sweep immediately before the fall. When he did see the vomit, he placed a yellow warning sign near it and then went to alert management. The security guard testified that his actions, including his return to the spot, where Fipps had by then, already fallen, took less than five minutes. By the time the security guard and an employee returned to the scene, Fipps was on the floor. Roberts could not remember seeing a warning sign in the vicinity of the vomit.
. Less than two weeks later, while at home recuperating from her fall at Piggly Wiggly, Fipps reinjured her leg and was taken to the emergency room where she received care from Dr. Sandifer, an orthopedist. Weeks later, she was found to have a pulmonary embolus. Her regular doctor, Dr. Shah, treated Fipps for the blood clot. This blood clot was never proven to be the result of Fipps' initial fall in the Piggly Wiggly. Fipps did not call Dr. Shah to testify regarding the causes of the pulmonary embolus, thus leaving only Dr. Sandifer to be cross-examined regarding Fipps' stay in the hospital. Fipps returned to Dr. Sandifer in February of 1997 for her three-month post-surgery examination at which time he found her femur fully healed.
. At trial, Piggly Wiggly tried to enter the warning sign allegedly placed near the puddle by the security guard. Fipps' attorney vehemently objected to its introduction due to the fact that the sign was not listed in the pretrial order. He also asserted that the sign in the court room was not the same sign described by the security guard in his deposition because the dimensions were different. The judge excluded
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