Kelley Kronenberg Partner and Business Unit Leader Julie Karron and Attorney Taylor White secured summary judgment in a Brevard County premises liability case on behalf of Sunrise Boat Marina, Inc. and Canaveral Port Authority. The win defeated both the plaintiff’s maritime law claims and the plaintiff’s own motion for partial summary judgment on the applicability of tort reform in a Wave 2 case, in a matter where the plaintiff’s demand exceeded $2 million.  

The plaintiff alleged she slipped and fell while descending the stairs of a fish display platform located in the parking lot of the marina after completing a fishing charter. She filed claims under both Florida law and general maritime law, arguing the photo session on the platform was part of a maritime voyage on navigable waters. Had the Court agreed, the consequences would have been significant: comparative fault defenses eliminated, joint and several liability imposed, and collateral source evidence barred.  

Julie successfully argued that maritime law did not apply because the incident failed both prongs of the applicable two-part test. On the locality prong, the plaintiff’s injury occurred on a freestanding, land-based platform located approximately 44 feet from the water, entirely disconnected from the dock and the vessel. The plaintiff had safely disembarked, walked to her vehicle, and was on dry land at the time of the fall. On the nexus prong, taking photographs of caught fish had no substantial relationship to traditional maritime activity and no potential to disrupt maritime commerce. 

The plaintiff also filed her own motion for partial summary judgment arguing that maritime law applied and that the defendants’ comparative fault and collateral source defenses should be stricken. The Court denied that motion, finding the plaintiff had not established the threshold requirement of maritime jurisdiction and that despite being a Wave 2 case, the burden or standard of proof is a procedural matter.  

The Court granted our team’s motion for summary judgment on the maritime claims and denied the plaintiff’s, preserving the defendants’ full range of defenses heading into trial.  

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