Johnson v. Brown
Johnson v. Brown
Opinion of the Court
We affirm the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Edwina Brown who was the defendant in a personal injury action brought by James Johnson. We reject appellant’s argument that under Section 489.128, Florida Statutes (1999), appellee is barred from utilizing the independent contractor defense. Moreover, we find nothing in the record to raise a question of material fact as to whether appellee owed any duty of care to appellant, breach of which resulted in appellant’s injuries.
AFFIRMED.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
The trial court entered final summary judgment in favor of Appellee Edwina Brown after finding the following facts to be uncontroverted:
Defendant [Edwina Brown] hired her brother, Mr. Tutson, to repair her roof to her single family residence, paying him a flat fee for the work. Defendant did not supervise or maintain any control as to how Tutson repaired the roof. Tutson hired the Plaintiff to help him as he had done on many occasions. While removing roofing shingles, the Plaintiff slipped and fell from the roof, injuring himself. The Defendant knew that her brother, Tutson, was an unlicensed contractor. What caused the Plaintiff to slip and fall is unknown; however, it can be inferred that he slipped on some roofing material or granules which he was removing at the time of the fall.
The trial court concluded from these facts that Tutson was an independent contractor and that Plaintiff was his employee. Therefore, the trial court entered final summary judgment in favor of Appellee, against Plaintiffs claims of negligence and for remedies pursuant to section 553.84, Florida Statutes (1999).
Accordingly, I would reverse the trial court’s final summary judgment in favor of Appellee and remand for further proceedings. I respectfully dissent.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.