Dunlap v. Needle Rush Point Owners' Association, Inc.

FIRST D ISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
S TATE OF FLORIDA
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No. 1D2024-2012
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J AMI DUNLAP ,
Appellant,
v.
NEEDLE R USH POINT OWNERS’
A SSOCIATION , I NC .,
Appellee.
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On appeal from the Circuit Court for Escambia County.
Jan Shackelford, Judge.
December 3, 2025
P ER C URIAM.
Appellant, Jami Dunlap, appeals a final summary judgment
entered 	in 	favor 	of 	Appellee, 	Needle 	Rush 	Point 	Owners’
Association, Inc., in a premises liability action that Appellant filed
after she fell and suffered injuries on Appellee’s property. 	In
granting summary judgment in Appellee’s favor on the issue of
causation, 	the 	trial 	court 	relied 	upon 	portions 	of 	Appellant’s
deposition 	where 	she 	testified 	that 	her 	foot 	“gave 	up” 	and
collapsed. 	However, 	not 	only 	did 	Appellant 	claim 	in 	her
interrogatory responses that it was the rotten wood and green
slippery moss-like substance on Appellee’s boardwalk that caused
her to fall, but she also testified during her deposition that her fall
was caused by the condition of the wood. 	She also presented

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photographs of the boardwalk that were taken shortly after the
incident, along with the shoe she wore that day that was marked
with “the green substance” from the boardwalk. 	By doing so,
Appellant presented competent evidence that showed a genuine
issue for trial. 	See Casey v. Mistral Condo. Ass’n, Inc., 380 So. 3d
1278, 1285 (Fla. 1st DCA 2024) (explaining that where a movant
for summary judgment satisfies its initial burden of identifying the
portions of the record which it believes demonstrate the absence of
a genuine issue of material fact, the nonmoving party, in order to
overcome the summary judgment motion, must present competent
evidence that shows a genuine issue for trial); see also United
States v. Stein, 881 F.3d 853, 857 (11th Cir. 2018) (“[A] litigant’s
self-serving 	statements 	based 	on 	personal 	knowledge 	or
observation can defeat summary judgment.”).
Accordingly, we reverse the final summary judgment and
remand for further proceedings.
R EVERSED and REMANDED.
LEWIS, M.K. THOMAS, and LONG, JJ., concur.
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Not 	final 	until 	disposition 	of 	any 	timely 	and
authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or
9.331.
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Brian J. Lee of Morgan & Morgan, Jacksonville, for Appellant.
Michael T. Stallings of Kirkland McGhee & Gann, P.A., Pensacola,
for Appellee.