Opinion
2:22-cv-169-DPM
03-04-2024
PAMELA SAIA PLAINTIFF v. DOLGENCORP, LLC DEFENDANT
ORDER
D.P. MARSHALL JR., UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.
Pamela Saia was shopping at the Dollar General in Elaine when she tripped over a box and fell, injuring herself. The box was on the floor at the end of an aisle. Saia says she didn't see the box because she was looking straight ahead to see where she was going. She has sued Dolgencorp, LLC, the company that operates Dollar General Corporation. Dolgencorp seeks summary judgment on her negligence claim. Where there are disputed facts, the Court takes them in the light most favorable to Saia. Anderson v. Rugged Races, LLC, 42 F.4th 955, 958 (8th Cir. 2022). The Court regrets its delay in addressing the motion.
The parties don't dispute that Saia was an invitee. Dolgencorp, like all who invite the public in for business, must use ordinary care to maintain its premises in a reasonably safe condition. Robinson v. Quail Rivers Properties, LLC, 2022 Ark.App. 409, at 4, 654 S.W.3d 690, 693. If a danger is open and obvious to a reasonable person, then the duty ends. Jenkins v. International Paper Co., 318 Ark. 663, 670, 887 S.W.2d 300, 304 (1994). There's a genuine dispute of material fact about whether the box was an open and obvious danger that Saia appreciated or that a reasonable shopper should have appreciated. Taking Saia's testimony in the light most favorable to her, she didn't see the box before she fell. Doc. 12-1 at 30-31. The video shows that the box was low and smallish, although its exact size is unclear. A reasonable juror could conclude that the box was neither known to Saia nor obvious to the ordinary shopper. Smith v. Basin Park Hotel, Inc., 350 F.3d 810, 814 (8th Cir. 2003). * * *
Motion for summary judgment, Doc. 12, denied. This case is first out for trial on 9 April 2024.
So Ordered.