Meeks v. Rosa

On Petition for Review from the Court of Appeals for the Thirteenth District of Texas In this case, we must decide whether there is legally sufficient evidence to show that Mattie Meeks knew or should have known of the purported dangerous condition that Maria Rosa alleged existed in Meeks's kitchen. Rosa, a health-care provider, slipped and fell on beans while working in Meeks's home. After a jury verdict for Rosa on her premises liability claim, the trial court ordered judgment non obstante veredicto for Meeks. The court of appeals reversed and rendered judgment for Rosa. 1 We reverse and render judgment that Rosa take nothing. On January 20, 1993, Rosa was working as a home health-care provider in Meeks's apartment. Meeks was an eighty-six year old widow living alone. Rosa's duties included providing hygiene care, cleaning, and occasionally cooking at Meeks's apartment. The parties' recollections of the incident are in many ways irreconcilable. Nevertheless, the few facts on which our Disposition of this case turns come from Rosa's testimony regarding what happened when Rosa was alone in the kitchen. Rosa testified that she opened the refrigerator door to remove a container of cooked pinto beans. Rosa then said that the beans spilled on the floor and on her shoes, and that, after taking two steps away from the beans toward a broom closet to clean up the mess, she slipped and fell, seriously injuring her shoulder. Rosa further testified that some beans may have already been on the floor. She examined her shoes after the fall and found beans on them.