Mingolello v. Megaplex Theaters

Citations: 2017 UT App 4; 391 P.3d 361; 829 Utah Adv. Rep. 5; 2017 Utah App. LEXIS 5; 2017 WL 74863Docket: 20150914-CA

Court: Court of Appeals of Utah; January 6, 2017; Utah; State Appellate Court

Original Court Document: View Document

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Ralph Mingolello appealed the summary judgment granted to Megaplex Theaters by the Fifth District Court after he slipped on a flashlight while leaving a movie. Mingolello and his stepson attended a matinee in January 2013, arriving early, and he was injured thirty minutes into the film. The flashlight's origin was unknown, and the theater manager had inspected the premises shortly before the incident without noting it. Mingolello argued that the court erred by concluding there was no genuine issue of material fact regarding the timing of the theater's inspection versus the accident. 

The appellate court reviews summary judgment rulings for correctness, emphasizing that such judgments are appropriate when there are no material disputes of fact. The court noted that business owners must maintain safe conditions for patrons and, while Mingolello acknowledged the flashlight constituted a temporary condition, he conceded Megaplex lacked actual notice of it. To prevail, Mingolello needed to demonstrate that Megaplex had constructive knowledge of the flashlight's presence, which requires evidence of how long the object had been on the floor. The court concluded that without evidence of the duration of the condition, Megaplex was entitled to summary judgment.

Mingolello failed to provide evidence regarding the timing of when the flashlight was on the stairs relative to the accident. He contested the time gap between the manager’s inspection at 10:30 a.m. and the accident, which he claimed occurred after 3:00 p.m., suggesting a potential four-and-a-half-hour window for the flashlight being on the floor. However, he did not argue that Megaplex caused the flashlight to be there, nor did he present evidence about how long it had been on the floor. 

The court noted that for summary judgment to be overturned, the dispute must be material to the legal issue at hand. The inconsistency in inspection testimony was deemed not material to the determination of breach of duty. Citing Jex v. JRA, Inc., the court emphasized that Mingolello needed to show that the flashlight had been on the floor for an appreciable time, which he did not do. He acknowledged that neither he nor his stepson knew the flashlight's ownership, when it was dropped, or its duration on the floor.

Without evidence to establish how long the condition existed, there was no basis to conclude that Megaplex should have discovered or remedied the situation. The court reiterated that a jury cannot speculate on breach of duty based solely on the time lapse between inspection and accident. Unlike in Price v. Smith’s Food, where inspection evidence helped narrow down the timeframe of a hazardous condition, Mingolello provided no such evidence. Consequently, the court upheld the summary judgment in favor of Megaplex.

Mingolello failed to present sufficient evidence to clarify the duration the flashlight was on the stairway prior to his accident, resulting in a significant uncertainty regarding its presence. Assuming the inspection occurred at 10:30 a.m. and the accident took place after 3:00 p.m., there was a potential four-and-a-half-hour gap, yet Mingolello did not indicate when the flashlight was placed on the floor or how long it had been there before the slip. Additionally, he did not provide evidence regarding the origin of the flashlight, who left it, or the defendant's knowledge of its presence. Consequently, there is no basis for the jury to ascertain the duration the flashlight was on the floor, which is critical for establishing constructive notice. As a result, the district court's summary judgment in favor of Megaplex is affirmed.