LAMAR, Justice, for the Court:
¶ 1. Edna Phillips filed suit against Tich K. Huynh, d/b/a Elegant Nails Salon, in the Circuit Court of Simpson County, asserting negligence in operation, negligence in maintenance, and gross negligence
¶ 2. On October 7, 2006, Phillips, a resident of Prentiss, Mississippi, went to Elegant Nails to have a new set of acrylic nails put on. After the acrylic nails were applied, the employee
¶ 3. Although Phillips sought treatment for her eye injury, the treating physicians did not find anything in her eye that could have caused the scratch. Phillips has not identified what she alleges hit her eye or how she believes her injury occurred, nor has she produced any evidence of how her injury occurred.
¶ 4. Phillips brought suit against Elegant Nails, asserting that she had suffered various damages as the result of Elegant Nails' alleged negligence in operation, negligence in maintenance, and gross negligence relating to her eye injury. Elegant Nails thereafter moved for summary judgment, arguing that Phillips had no proof of exactly how her injury occurred and could not make a prima facie case for any of the negligence claims. A hearing was held on Elegant Nails' motion before the interim circuit court judge. During oral argument, counsel for Phillips argued, for the first time, the theory of res ipsa loquitur. The interim circuit court judge denied Elegant Nails' motion for summary judgment, in part because the defendants had not fully responded to plaintiff's discovery.
¶ 5. Upon election of the new circuit court judge, Elegant Nails renewed its motion for summary judgment. The circuit court denied the motion without oral argument on the theory of res ipsa loquitur. Elegant Nails filed a petition for interlocutory appeal, which we granted.
¶ 6. We review the grant or denial of summary judgment de novo.
¶ 7. Res ipsa loquitur applies, and a rebuttable presumption of negligence arises, when a plaintiff shows the following elements:
However, it has been held that, "in order to invoke the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, the plaintiff must establish the thing that caused the injury."
¶ 8. In the present case, Phillips puts forth no evidence of what "instrumentality" caused her injury or how specifically she was injured. Phillips merely identifies where she was when the incident occurred and at what point in the process of getting the new nails "something" hit her eye. Phillips provides no evidence that the buffer, or any other instrumentality, caused the eye injury. Phillips also fails to offer any evidence that the "something" that hit her eye, allegedly causing her eye injury, ordinarily would not have hit her eye had Elegant Nails used proper care in operating the buffer. Therefore, we find that the evidence offered by Phillips is not sufficient to raise a presumption of negligence under a theory of res ipsa loquitur, and Elegant Nails' motion for summary judgment should not have been denied on this ground.
¶ 9. It is well settled that to prevail on a negligence claim, a plaintiff must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, duty or standard of care, breach, causation and damages.
¶ 10. Duty and breach are essential elements of a negligence claim which
¶ 11. Phillips asserts Elegant Nails' negligent operation of and negligent failure to properly maintain the manicure equipment "led to the piece of fingernail striking Ms. Phillips in the eye." However, Phillips has failed to come forward with any evidence indicating exactly what hit her eye or how Elegant Nails breached the duty of ordinary care owed to her; nor does she allege any specific act or omission by Elegant Nails that would show Elegant Nails negligently operated or maintained any part of its tools or salon. Phillips merely alleges that because "something" hit her eye when an employee used the nail buffer, it must be the salon's fault. Without more, Phillips cannot show any genuine issue of material fact relating to Elegant Nails' duty or alleged breach of that duty, and cannot survive summary judgment.
¶ 12. Even though we find that Phillips has produced no evidence that Elegant Nails breached any duty it owed her, we also address the necessary element of causation. For Phillips to prevail on her negligence claims against Elegant Nails, Phillips must show that the negligence of Elegant Nails was the proximate cause of the injury. We have held proximate cause requires the plaintiff to show that the defendant's conduct was the cause in fact and the legal cause of the plaintiff's injury.
¶ 13. Phillips asserts Elegant Nails' negligent operation of the nail buffer was the proximate cause of her injury. In her deposition, however, Phillips testified as follows:
The only support Phillips offers for her argument for causation is Berry v. Brunt, 252 Miss. 194, 172 So.2d 398 (1965), which she argues supports the proposition that proximate cause can be inferred in the absence of direct evidence from the circumstances
We continued:
¶ 14. As previously stated, Phillips offers no evidence supporting her claims that the negligent operation and maintenance were the proximate cause of her alleged injury. In fact, Phillips testified that she does not know what hit her eye, where the alleged object that hit her eye originated, or how any equipment was negligently maintained or operated. Therefore, there is no circumstantial evidence from which a jury could infer causation. Without proof that the negligence of the defendant was the cause in fact and legal cause of the plaintiff's alleged injury, the defendant cannot be held liable.
¶ 15. We find that Elegant Nails' motion for summary judgment should have been granted on all claims. Phillips twice responded to Elegant Nails' summary judgment motion with nothing more than mere allegations and legal conclusions. Without more, her claims of negligence, gross negligence and res ipsa loquitur are without merit. Therefore, we reverse the judgment of the Circuit Court of Simpson County and render judgment in favor of Elegant Nails.
¶ 16.
WALLER, C.J., CARLSON AND DICKINSON, P.JJ., RANDOLPH, KITCHENS, CHANDLER, PIERCE AND KING, JJ., CONCUR.