Mokris v. United States

JANET MOKRIS, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Defendant.

No. 2:20-cv-34-JES-MRM

United States District Court, M.D. Florida, Fort Myers Division

May 2, 2022

OPINION AND ORDER

JOHN E. STEELE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter came before the Court from March 30 through April 1, 2022, for a bench trial. In her Amended Complaint (Doc. #19), plaintiff Janet Mokris (Ms. Mokris) seeks monetary damages arising from a slip-and-fall incident at a United States Postal Service (USPS) location in Cape Coral, Florida. (Doc. #19.) Ms. Mokris asserts that as she was entering the post office she slipped and fell on water on the tile floor, injuring her left knee. (Id. at ¶ 8.)

The Court heard testimony from Ms. Mokris, Greg Hammond, Christy Williams, Donna Graf, Albert (Randy) Vicedo, Dr. Victor Nemeth, William J. Fischer, Dr. Victor Michael Marwin, and Dr. Michael Shanhnasarian. The Court also received a number of exhibits^[1] from both sides and heard opening statements and closing arguments from counsel. Ms. Mokris seeks $7, 247.40 in medical expenses, $1, 318.99 in out-of-pocket expenses, $291, 433.61 in noneconomic damages and $40, 000 in lost wages, for a total of $340, 000. (Doc #76, ¶ VII.)

At the conclusion of plaintiff's case, the Court took under advisement defendant's motion for a judgment on partial findings pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(c). The Court now denies defendant's Rule 52(c) motion. As required by Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a), the Court makes findings of fact and conclusions of law as set forth below as to the merits of the case.

I.

A. Background

“Cape South” is a USPS retail facility located at 4722 SE 17th Avenue, Cape Coral, FL 33904. Cape South is a smaller USPS branch and is under the supervision of another USPS location in Cape Coral (Cape Central). There are usually two to three employees working at Cape South at a given time.

Built in 1967, Cape South has a single public entrance through sliding double doors which open automatically when approached. Immediately in front of the doors is a four to five foot-wide paved sidewalk which borders the threshold of the sliding doors on one side and a parking lot on the opposite side. (See Ex. 4.) There is a shed-type roof overhang above the sliding doors which covers part, but not the entire width, of the sidewalk in front of the sliding doors. The roof overhang typically prevents water from accumulating on the tile floor inside the sliding doors. The public may enter through these sliding doors 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

A person passing through the sliding doors enters the “entry lobby” area inside the building. The floor of the entry lobby consists of 12-inch per side square tiles placed in a diamond pattern when viewed from the entrance. Typically, a floor mat approximately three feet wide and the length of the doorway opening is located on the tiles of the entry lobby floor. For safety reasons, post office personnel endeavor to keep this mat within approximately six inches of the threshold of the sliding doors, so that a person's first step into the building lands on the mat and not on bare tile. There is a camera pointing at the entry lobby, however, that camera has not worked for approximately 10 to 15 years.

To the left of this entry lobby are post office boxes utilized by the public, which are accessible 24/7. To the right of the entry lobby is the entrance to an inner lobby consisting of a retail and customer counter area. The inner lobby is only open during certain business hours. In the inner lobby, there is a live-feed, non-recording camera which surveys the customer counter. During closed hours, access to the inner lobby is precluded by a locked, accordion-type door.

Donna Graf (Ms. Graf) started working for the USPS in 1981. She worked at Cape South from 2001 to 2013 and 2017 to 2021, acting as Lead Clerk for most of this time. Ms. Graf's responsibilities included ensuring that the USPS location ran smoothly and safely while she was on-duty. Ms. Graf testified that her general practice was to conduct an inspection of the interior of Cape South between five and 15 minutes before she opened the retail area to the public. During this inspection, which included the entry lobby, Ms. Graf would look for any safety concerns, trash, or material that needed to be removed.

In 2017, Christy Williams (Ms. Williams) became Acting Supervisor of Cape Central, and in 2019 was promoted to Supervisor. Ms. Williams has served as a facility safety coordinator and on a safety committee for Cape Central. In 2018, as Acting Supervisor, Ms. Williams infrequently went to Cape South to provide assistance or to conduct safety inspections.

B. The May 26, 2018 Fall

May 26, 2018 (May 26) was a Saturday over Memorial Day weekend. During the night and morning hours, it had rained on and off. In the morning, it was wet outside.

On May 26, Ms. Graf arrived for work at Cape South between 7:00 and 7:30 a.m. and engaged in her various routine tasks. Ms. Graf knew it was rainy and wet that day, and testified that it had probably rained again between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Ms. Graf conducted her routine inspection of the entry lobby between 9:45 and the 10:00 a.m. opening of the inner lobby. Ms. Graf did not place a “wet floor” sign in the area because, while it had been raining, she did not notice any water on the floor. Ms. Graf did not know of any post office policy regarding when a “wet floor” sign should be posted.

Ms. Graf's specific testimony as to her observations during her routine inspection has varied over time. Ms. Graf prepared a Declaration used in connection with a summary judgment motion. (Pl. Ex. 2.) The Declaration stated that at approximately 10:00 a.m.: “I inspected the entrance area of Cape South, including the area adjoining the double doors leading to the exterior of Cape South. During my inspection, I did not observe any pooling of water at the entrance area.” (Id.) The Declaration does not mention the location of the floor mat near the front sliding doors.

Ms. Graf testified on direct examination for defendant that she did not observe any pooling of water or anything else potentially dangerous near the sliding doors, and did not notice anything unusual about the placement of the mat. Ms. Graf explained that she would have noticed if the mat was more than six inches from the door because the mats in Cape South often moved and she often found herself moving the mats back into their proper location. Ms. Graf testified that she knew the placement of the mat was a safety issue, the aim being that a person's first step into the post office would land on the mat and not the tile floor.

Ms. Graf told defense counsel that the mat was in fact right by the sliding doors when she performed her morning inspection. Ms. Graf admitted that during her prior deposition she stated that she did not recall where the mat was located that morning.

In response to questions from the Court, Ms. Graf stated that she specifically remembers seeing the mat and its location on May 26, 2018. Ms. Graf testified that she knows for certain that the floor mat was within four to six inches of the threshold of the sliding doors and the tile floor was not wet. Ms. Graf had no explanation as to how the floor mat moved to the location depicted in the photographs taken after the Ms. Mokris' Fall, which is discussed in detail below. (Exs. 1-7.)

After Ms. Graf's routine inspection, Ms. Graf opened the inner lobby of the post office at about 10:00 a.m. to a line of waiting customers. Ms. Graf testified that it was busy, which was usual for a Saturday morning.

This brings the Court to Ms. Mokris. On May 26, Ms. Mokris was an active and fit 57-year-old woman who owned homes in Cleveland, Ohio and Cape Coral, Florida. Around 10:00 a.m. Ms. Mokris and Greg Hammond (Mr. Hammond), her long-time boyfriend, left the Cape Coral house and Mr. Hammond drove them to Cape South to drop off a letter. Ms. Mokris and Mr. Hammond arrived at Cape South between 10:10 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. While it had been raining earlier, it was not raining upon their arrival. Mr. Hammond parked his car about twenty feet from the post office doorway and waited in the car with the engine running. Ms. Mokris walked to the front entrance, pausing as necessary for the automatic doors to the entry lobby to slide open.

Ms. Mokris took a single step across the threshold of the sliding doors, stepped on wet tile, slipped, fell, and landed on her left knee, forearm, and palm. Mr. Hammond saw her go down very fast and hard on her left side. After a momentary delay because of his shock, Mr. Hammond entered Cape South to help Ms. Mokris, who was on the floor leaning against the doorway and complained of feeling nauseated, dizzy, and in great pain. Mr. Hammond helped Ms. Mokris move to a bench to sit down.

Ms. Mokris testified she was not looking down when she fell so she did not initially know what she slipped on. While sitting on the floor after the fall she could see a pool of water along the edge of the floor mat and a glazing of water on the tile, and felt a wet pant leg which had soaked up water from the floor after the fall. Ms. Mokris testified that if she had stepped on the floor mat she would not have fallen, but the floor mat was too far away from threshold of the sliding doors.

Mr. Hammond testified that the floor was wet and very slippery, although he did not see a lot of water. Mr. Hammond identified pooling of water along the edge of the floor mat, and a little bit of water elsewhere on the tile, but no other pooling of water. (Ex. 3.) Mr. Hammond testified that after the fall he tested the tile with one foot on the sidewalk and found the tile to be extremely slippery.

After the...