Coury v. City of Tampa
After the close of discovery, the City moved for summary judgment arguing simply that Coury lacked evidence to support his negligent hiring/training/supervision claims; Coury filed no evidence in response, contending the City never met its initial burden of production. The Second District affirmed, holding that under amended rule 1.510 and the Celotex standard, a movant who does not bear the trial burden need not produce any evidence and may discharge its 'far from stringent' initial burden by pointing out the absence of record evidence, at which point the burden shifts to the nonmovant.
Key facts
- Coury sued the City of Tampa for negligent hiring, training, and supervision; after discovery closed, the City moved for summary judgment arguing Coury lacked evidentiary support for his claims without itself submitting evidence.
- Coury did not file a response with evidence, instead arguing the City failed to meet its initial burden of production.
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Why it matters
This is one of the clearest post-amendment Florida appellate explanations of the 'absence of evidence' route to summary judgment under rule 1.510, expressly rejecting the common argument that a defendant-movant must… — full analysis with a trial
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