IN HOTEL SLIP AND FALL CASE, GEORIGA COURT OF APPEALS CONTINUES TO NARROW PRIOR TRAVERSAL RULE
Posted by H. Lee Pruett
Morrell and Doris Perkins checked into the Comfort Inn in Valdosta on March 21, 2006. Three days later, after checking out, Mr. Perkins walked down the stairs from their second floor room, turned to walk along the hotel porch, stepped off a seven or eight inch step or curb between the porch and the parking lot, and fell, breaking his ankle. Plaintiffs filed suit against the owner of the hotel. Mr. Perkins admitted he had “likely” gone up and down the same curb prior to his fall, and Ms. Perkins testified they had “probably” negotiated the curb once each morning and once each night. The defendant owner filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing the curb was no hazard, the hotel had no knowledge of a hazard, and if it was a hazard, Mr. Perkins had equal knowledge of it. The trial court granted Defendant’s motion. In Perkins v. The Val D’Aosta Co., Case No. A10A0413 (Ga. Ct. App., July 9, 2010), the Court of Appeals reversed, further narrowing the defense of equal knowledge from prior traversal of a hazard.
