Georgia Insurance Defense Lawyer Blog

Posted by Susan J. Levy

In Sipple v. Newman, 2012 Ga. App. LEXIS 12 (January 12, 2012), Plaintiff, employed as a roofer, was hired by a 93-year-old woman to clean thick wet layers of pine straw off of her roof. In order to remove the pine straw from the gutters and an awning, Plaintiff leaned a ladder beside the awning and then rested his foot on the awning for balance. Plaintiff was injured in a fall after the awning gave way.

Continue reading "ROOFER LOSES PREMISES LIABILITY ACTION IN GEORGIA COURT OF APPEALS" »

Posted by H. Lee Pruett

Refusing to bow to the adage that “bad facts make bad law,” a bare majority of Georgia Supreme Court justices held that a hotel has no duty to check on a guest or render aid for medical conditions unrelated to the guest’s stay at the hotel. Rasnick v. Krishna Hospitality, Inc., Case No. S10G0971 (Ga. S. Ct., July 5, 2011). The facts are bad indeed. In 2006, a 77 year old Texan named Sidney Rasnick traveled to Georgia on a work assignment and checked into the Motel Jesup. He suffered from a number of health conditions, and he talked with his wife on the telephone several times each day. On the sixth night, Ms. Rasnick called her husband at his hotel room but got no answer. She then called the motel operator and said she thought her husband might need medical attention, and she requested that the motel have someone check on him, but the operator refused. Ms. Rasnick called her husband’s room again and got no answer. She again called the motel, said she was very worried about her husband, and again asked that someone check on him. The operator said Mr. Rasnick was resting, that she was disturbing him, and hung up. Ms. Rasnick called yet again and was told by an angry male operator to call the room, and then he hung up. In each of her five subsequent calls to the motel, Ms. Rasnick got a recording that no one was available. The next morning, a housekeeper found Mr. Rasnick on the floor of his room, unable to move. The motel owner called an ambulance, but Mr. Rasnick died from heart disease later that morning. In the ensuing wrongful death suit, a cardiologist testified that Mr. Rasnick would have survived had he received treatment the night before.

Continue reading "GEORGIA SUPREME COURT RULES HOTELS HAVE NO DUTY TO CHECK ON GUESTS FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS NOT CAUSED BY THE HOTEL" »

Posted by Susan J. Levy

Eighty-three-year-old Gwyneth Williams was house-sitting for her daughter and son-in-law in a gated golf club community called The Landings, located on Skidaway Island, outside of Savannah. The Landings Association, Inc. v. Williams et al., 2011 Ga. App. LEXIS 278 (2011). The Landings’ 4500 acre community is built around 150 interconnected lagoons originally built by the previous owner, then expanded upon by The Landings’ developer. The lagoon complex connects to wild marshland on Skidaway Island. Alligators, indigenous to coastal Georgia, travel freely between the marsh and the lagoons. On October 6, 2007, Ms. Williams’ body was found floating in a lagoon close to her daughter’s home. The medical examiner determined that Ms. Williams had been attacked by an alligator and as a result, quickly bled to death. Trappers searched the lagoon and captured an alligator, over eight feet long and weighing 130 pounds. Parts of Ms. Williams’ body was found in the alligator’s stomach.

Continue reading "SIZE MATTERS - AT LEAST WHEN IT COMES TO ALLIGATORS" »

Posted by Susan J. Levy

As many of you may know, Atlanta was recently shut down due to snow and ice. Since it took almost a week for the temperature to rise above freezing for any length of time, the City was paralyzed for days. After about three days, most major roads were passable and I decided to venture out to the office. On my way, I decided to stop at Kroger to re-stock my kitchen. Much to my delight, the store was open. However, the parking lot was a sheet of ice. No caution signs, no yellow tape blocking off the worst spots, no indication of shoveling, sand or ice. As I prepared for my perilous journey from car to store, I watched a healthy looking young man go airborne and land on his derrière. I saw older folks, one with a cane, navigating the ice so precariously that I found myself holding my breath until they reached safety. Fortunately, I escaped with a few groceries and in one piece.

Continue reading "SLIP SLIDIN' AWAY THROUGH ATLANTA" »

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.

Continue reading "IN HOTEL SLIP AND FALL CASE, GEORIGA COURT OF APPEALS CONTINUES TO NARROW PRIOR TRAVERSAL RULE" »

Posted by Wm. Daniel Floyd

Jean Benton slipped and fell at the Southeast Georgia Medical Center after leaving her Doctor’s appointment. The accident occurred in the lobby of the Medical Center. She stated it was only at the time of her fall that she felt the floor was slick. As a result of her slip and fall, she suffered a serious injury to her right shoulder.

The issue in this case was whether the Medical Center failed to protect Ms. Benton from a dangerous condition. A business owner has a statutory duty to protect its invitees or guests from dangerous conditions by keeping its building or land in a reasonably safe condition. In this case, like other slip and fall cases, Ms. Benton, as the invitee, had the burden to show that a dangerous condition existed and what that condition was which caused her to fall. The Medical Center moved for summary judgment, arguing that Ms. Benton failed to provide evidence showing that her injury was a result of a dangerous condition. The trial court denied the motion and the medical center appealed to the Georgia Court of Appeals. Glynn-Brunswick Mem’l Hosp. Auth. v. Benton, 2010 Ga. App. LEXIS 344; 2010 Fulton County D. Rep. 1222 (2010).

Continue reading "GEORGIA COURT OF APPEALS RULES PLAINTIFF MUST DO MORE THAN SPECULATE AS TO CAUSE OF A SLIP AND FALL" »

Posted by H. Lee Pruett

In Rutherford v. Revco, Case No. A09A1331 (Ga. Ct. App., Nov. 24, 2009), and Nosiri v. Helm, Case No. A09A1563 (Ga. Ct. App., Dec. 1, 2009), the Georgia Court of Appeals rendered questionable decisions denying the defendants summary judgment in cases where the plaintiffs appeared to have equal knowledge of the hazardous condition. These cases point out the increasing difficulty premises liability defendants face in convincing the court that they should prevail as a matter of law.

Continue reading "TWO RECENT DECISIONS BY GEORGIA COURT OF APPEALS SHOW COURT’S INCREASING RELUCTANCE TO GRANT SUMMARY JUDGMENT TO DEFENDANTS IN TRIP AND FALL CASES" »

Posted by H. Lee Pruett

In a premises liability case, it is essential to establish the status of the plaintiff to determine the duty owed by the property owner. A recent case in the Georgia Court of Appeals illustrates the critical distinction between an invitee and a licensee. In Jarrell v. JDC & Associates, LLC, 296 Ga. App. 523 (2009), the Court agreed that the defendants were entitled to summary judgment because the plaintiff was a licensee, not an invitee.

Continue reading "GEORGIA COURT OF APPEALS RE-EMPHASIZES IMPORTANCE OF DETERMINING STATUS OF PLAINTIFF IN PREMISES LIABILITY CLAIM" »

Posted by H. Lee Pruett

In American Multi-Cinema, Inc. v. Brown, 285 Ga. 442 (2009), the Georgia Supreme Court held that a sign warning of a hazard can constitute a hazard itself. In this case, the plaintiff was a customer in the defendant’s movie theater. On the day of the accident, the theater was crowded and moments before the movie was over, the defendant’s employees placed a “wet floor” sign over a spill just outside the theater’s exit door. As the crowd left the theater, the sign collapsed. Because of the press of people, the plaintiff did not see the sign lying flat on the floor. She tripped on the sign, fell to the floor, and sustained serious injuries. She filed suit against the theater, alleging negligence.

Continue reading "GEORGIA SUPREME COURT RULES THAT A “WET FLOOR” SIGN CAN ITSELF BE A HAZARD AND EXPOSE A PROPERTY OWNER TO LIABILITY" »

Posted by Jonathan A. Barash

Georgia courts have developed a four-part test to determine whether an owner of recreational property has acted “willfully or maliciously” in causing injuries to people using the property: First, the owner must have had knowledge that the property was being used for recreational purposes. Second, the owner must have had knowledge that a condition existed on the property involving unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily harm. Third, the condition must not have been apparent to those using the property. Finally, the owner must have chosen not to guard or warn, in disregard of the possible consequences. Significantly, in order to be found liable under this “willful or malicious” standard, the property owner must have “actual knowledge” of the hazard, rather than the much easier to prove “constructive knowledge” standard that exists in the usual premises liability situation. Further, under the Recreational Property Act, no affirmative duty to inspect the premises is imposed on the property owner.

This law strikes a balance by providing an incentive for property owners to make their land available to the public for recreational purposes, while still providing some remedy to injured parties for egregious conduct.

Posted by Jonathan A. Barash

With the increase in premises liability litigation over the past 50 years, it is understandable that property owners would be cautious about letting others enter their lands for recreational purposes. In an effort to encourage property owners in Georgia to make their land and water areas available to the public for recreational purposes, Georgia, in 1965, enacted the Recreational Property Act which limits the liability of owners and occupiers of such property for injuries suffered by persons using the property. O.C.G.A. § 51-3-20 et seq.

Continue reading "PREMISES LIABILITY AND GEORGIA’S RECREATIONAL PROPERTY ACT – Part 1 of a 2-Part Series" »

Posted by H. Lee Pruett

Applying well-established law and rules of evidence, the Georgia Court of Appeals recently affirmed summary judgment for a tenant and the landlord in a premises liability case in which the plaintiff was assaulted and robbed in a shopping center parking lot. In Drayton v. Kroger Co., Case No. A08A1935 (Ga. Ct. App., Mar. 2, 2009), the plaintiff bought groceries at the defendant Kroger in a shopping center in Fayetteville, Georgia, and was attacked by a person unconnected to either defendant as she was putting the groceries away in the trunk of her car. The trial court granted summary judgment to both defendants.

Continue reading "GEORGIA COURT OF APPEALS RULES PLAINTIFF'S EVIDENCE INSUFFICIENT TO PROVE EITHER TENANT GROCERY STORE OR LANDLORD IS LIABLE FOR CUSTOMER ASSAULT IN PARKING LOT" »