Date: 01-16-2015

Case Style: Jennifer Schwartz v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Case Number: 5D13-2104

Judge: Lambert

Court: Florida Court of Appeal, Fifth District on appeal from the Circuit Court, Osceola County

Plaintiff's Attorney: Jim Blecke, Coral Gables, and Joel Kaplan, of Kaplan and Freedman, P.A.,
Miami, for Appellant/Cross-Appellee.

Defendant's Attorney: Elliot H. Scherker and Brigid F. Cech Samole and Jay Yagoda, of Greenberg,
Traurig, P.A., Miami, for Appellee/Cross-Appellant.

Description: Jennifer Schwartz filed suit against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ("Wal-Mart") alleging that
as a result of the negligence of Wal-Mart’s employees, she was struck in the back by an
ornamental pumpkin1 while shopping and, as a result, sustained injuries. Wal-Mart
admitted that its employees committed a negligent act but vigorously contested causation
1 The pumpkin weighed 8.4 ounces and was "squishy."
2
and damages. After a three-week trial, the jury returned a zero-damages verdict, finding
that Wal-Mart was not the legal cause of Schwartz’s claimed loss, injury, or damages.
Thereafter, the trial court granted Schwartz’s motion for new trial as to "issues of damages
for initial medical evaluation sought by [Schwartz] after the accident and nothing more."
(emphasis added). Schwartz appeals this order, contending that the retrial on damages
should not be so limited. Wal-Mart cross-appeals, arguing that based on the trial evidence
and the jury's finding, the trial court erred in granting the new trial. We agree with Wal-
Mart and reverse and remand for reinstatement of the jury verdict.
We ordinarily review an order granting a motion for new trial under an abuse of
discretion standard. Brown v. Estate of Stuckey, 749 So. 2d 490, 497–98 (Fla. 1999).
However, when a motion for new trial addresses only issues of law, as here, our review
is de novo. Van v. Schmidt, 122 So. 3d 243, 258–59 (Fla. 2013).
To prevail on her negligence claim, Schwartz had to prove four elements: duty of
care, breach of that duty, causation, and damages. Kaplan v. Morse, 870 So. 2d 934,
937 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004). Causation is an essential element of negligence, and a plaintiff
is entitled to recover only for injury, loss, or damage caused by a defendant’s negligence.
Jordan v. Lamar, 510 So. 2d 648, 649 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987). The existence of a duty of
care is generally a question of law to be determined by the court, while breach, causation,
and damages are generally questions to be decided by the trier of fact. Jackson Hewitt,
Inc. v. Kaman, 100 So. 3d 19, 28 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011).
At trial, Schwartz presented considerable evidence suggesting that she sustained
an injury and damages as a result of the ornamental pumpkin striking her in the back.
Wal-Mart countered with expert testimony from, among others, a biomedical engineer
3
who opined that the degree of force exerted when the pumpkin struck Schwartz was "well
below [the] injury producing threshold." At the close of evidence, Schwartz moved for a
directed verdict as to the issue of causation. The trial court denied the motion, as there
was conflicting testimony regarding whether Schwartz could have suffered any type of
injury as a result of the incident in question. This ruling has not been challenged on
appeal.
In her motion for new trial, Schwartz argued that even though the jury found in
favor of Wal-Mart on the issue of causation, the failure to award her damages for at least
the cost of the initial medical evaluations was error because it was undisputed that
Schwartz sought medical care and treatment almost immediately after the incident. On
appeal, Schwartz cites to the general rule that even when a jury finds that a plaintiff was
not injured as a result of the subject accident, the plaintiff is still entitled to recover those
expenses incurred for medical examination and diagnostic testing reasonably necessary
to determine whether the incident caused injuries. See Sparks-Book v. Sports Auth., Inc.,
699 So. 2d 767, 768 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997). However, exceptions to this rule allow a jury to
return a zero-damages verdict, despite the medical expenses incurred for diagnostic
testing, such as "when sufficient evidence is presented at trial regarding certain factors,
including but not limited to pre-existing injuries with extensive treatments, lack of candor
with the treating physicians, video tapes that show actual physical capabilities, and expert
medical opinions which conflict as to causation." Hernandez v. Gonzalez, 124 So. 3d
988, 991–92 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013). Here, Wal-Mart presented expert testimony from a
biomedical engineer that sufficiently supported the conclusion that the impact could not
have caused any injury to Schwartz. Therefore, because an exception to the above4
stated general rule applies, we find that the trial court erred in granting the motion for new
trial on the issue of damages for Schwartz's initial medical evaluations.
We also conclude that the failure of Schwartz to object to the verdict form and the
jury instructions preclude her from relief. Question one on the agreed upon verdict form
asked the jury to determine whether the negligence on the part of Wal-Mart was a legal
cause of "loss, injury or damage" to Schwartz. The jury was further instructed that if it
answered this first question "No," it should proceed no further other than to date and sign
the verdict form. Notably, Schwartz did not request that the court include an additional
paragraph on the verdict form whereby if the jury answered this first question "No," then
the jury would next be asked to determine whether it was reasonable and necessary for
Schwartz to have incurred medical expenses for her initial diagnostic care and, if so, the
amount of those expenses. Additionally, Schwartz never moved for a directed verdict on
the issue of recovery for these diagnostic bills. In failing to do so, she elected to leave
this issue up to the jury. Martin v. Chapman, 780 So. 2d 929, 930 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001).
Therefore, because there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that Wal-
Mart did not cause Schwartz any loss, injury, or damage, and because Schwartz elected
to leave this issue up to the jury, we find that the granting of a new trial was unwarranted.
Accordingly, we reverse the order granting Schwartz’s motion for new trial and remand
for the reinstatement of the verdict and the entry of a final judgment in favor of Wal-Mart.

Outcome: REVERSED and REMANDED.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: