Reference no: EM131657173

Question: While Sandra and Michael Morris were shopping at a Sam's Club store, Michael was pushing a shopping cart and Sandra was walking generally alongside him. The Morrises were proceeding through the frozen foods section of the store when, after rounding a corner, Sandra slipped on a wet substance. Sandra then fell, hitting a small portable freezer known as a "spot box" and landing on her lower back and buttocks. She attempted to pull herself up using the cart that Michael was holding, but slipped halfway up and fell a second time. Once Sandra was finally standing up, she noticed that her clothes and shoes were soaked. She thought that the substance on which she slipped was water from the spot box freezer. The store manager arrived on the scene and ordered an employee to clean up the pool of liquid. The employee who did so noted that the pool was approximately ten inches in diameter and was located "right there under the drain of the freezer." According to the Morrises, the store manager told them he thought the liquid was water that had leaked from the spot box freezer. They also contended that the manager pointed out to them that the plug on the bottom of the spot box freezer was out. Sandra, who was treated at a hospital emergency room, experienced severe bruises and considerable pain, for which she was prescribed medication. In accordance with her physician's advice, she remained off her feet for a week. Sandra filed a negligence lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the owner of the Sam's Club store. In particular, she attempted to rely on the res ipsa loquitur theory. At the close of her case-in-chief, however, the court granted judgment as a matter of law in favor of the defendant. The court did so because it did not think Sandra had proven what was necessary to enable her to rely on res ipsa loquitur. Was the court correct?