Wallent v. Florida Power Corp‪.‬

Joseph Wallent appeals a judgment entered in his favor in a personal injury action against Florida Power Corporation. Mr. Wallent argues that he was entitled to a directed verdict on the issue of comparative negligence and that the jury was required to return a larger award for future medical expenses. After a full review of the record, we reject his second argument. However, we find merit in his claim that the trial court improperly submitted the issue of comparative negligence to the jury. We reverse the judgment and require entry of judgment on the verdict without a reduction for comparative negligence. Mr. Wallent sued both Florida Power and Serendipity Mobile Homeowners, Inc. (Serendipity), the owner of a mobile home park, for injuries he sustained when electric wires in an outdoor main circuit breaker box shorted as he was attempting to open the door to the box. He was opening the box to reset the main circuit breaker in order to restore power to his friend's mobile home. He maintained that the accident happened as a result of a bad splice in the power line inside the circuit breaker box. He claimed that either one or both defendants were responsible for the defective splice.