Tieder v. Little
502 So. 2d 923 · District Court of Appeal of Florida · 1987
Facts
Trudi Beth Tieder was killed when a car, being clutch-started by students, lost control, struck a brick wall outside her University of Miami dormitory, and the wall collapsed on her. Her estate sued the architect and the university, alleging negligent design and construction of the wall. The trial court dismissed the complaint and granted summary judgment, finding the defendants' negligence was not the proximate cause due to the bizarre nature of the accident.
Issue
Was the negligent design and construction of the brick wall a proximate cause of the decedent's death, even though the exact sequence of events leading to the wall's collapse (a car losing control and striking it) was unusual and unforeseeable?
Holding
Yes. The appellate court reversed the trial court's dismissal and summary judgment, holding that a jury question existed regarding proximate cause. The court found that the general type of accident (a wall collapsing due to negligent construction) was foreseeable, even if the specific chain of events was not.
Rule
Proximate cause in negligence requires both causation-in-fact and foreseeability. Foreseeability does not require the defendant to anticipate the exact sequence of events, but only that the general type of accident or harm was within the scope of the danger created by the defendant's negligence. Proximate cause is generally a question for the jury.
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