Florida Power Corp. v. McCain

555 So. 2d 1269 · District Court of Appeal of Florida · 1989

Facts

Thomas McCain was injured when his trencher struck an underground Florida Power electrical line, leading to a personal injury lawsuit. A jury found Florida Power negligent, but the company appealed the denial of its motion for a directed verdict. Florida Power argued McCain failed to present evidence in his case-in-chief that it could foresee an electrical shock injury from this type of cable being severed.

Issue

Did the trial court err in denying Florida Power's motion for a directed verdict when McCain failed to present evidence in his case-in-chief establishing that Florida Power could foresee an electrical shock injury from a trencher severing its underground cable?

Holding

Yes, the trial court erred. The appellate court reversed the denial of Florida Power's motion for a directed verdict and remanded with instructions to grant it, finding McCain failed to establish the element of foreseeability in his case-in-chief.

Rule

To establish negligence, a plaintiff must present evidence that the defendant could reasonably foresee the injury. A defendant is only obligated to guard against occurrences that can reasonably be anticipated, and evidence introduced after a motion for directed verdict should have been granted cannot be considered to cure a prior deficiency in proof.

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Case brief last reviewed 2026-01-07. Prepared by CaseReader from the published opinion.