Candler General Hospital, Inc. v. Purvis

• Decision Date: 17 February 1971
• Docket Number: No. 45825,No. 2,45825,2
• Citation: 181 S.E.2d 77,123 Ga.App. 334
• Parties: CANDLER GENERAL HOSPITAL, INC. v. William D. PURVIS et al
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

Page 77

181 S.E.2d 77

123 Ga.App. 334

CANDLER GENERAL HOSPITAL, INC. v. William D. PURVIS et al.

No. 45825.

Court of Appeals of Georgia, Division No. 2.

Feb. 17, 1971.

Bouhan, Williams & Levy, Frank W. Seiler, Savannah, for appellant.

Downing, McAlleer & Gaskin, James Edward McAleer, Savannah, for appellees.

Syllabus Opinion by the Court

EVANS, Judge.

William D. Purvis and his wife, Elizabeth H. Purvis, sued Candler General Hospital, Inc., for personal injuries to his wife and damages arising out of her personal injuries, seeking a judgment for $75,000. The damages and injuries allegedly resulted from certain acts of negligence of the defendant when the plaintiffs as invitees in said hospital started to leave, were forced to use an inside stairway, and Mrs. Purvis slipped and fell on the stairs when one of her shoes caught at the heel on a loose and worn metal strip, pulling off her shoe and causing her to fall down the stairs. The alleged acts of negligence are: (1) failure of the defendants to keep the stairs provided for patients and their visitors in proper repair; (2) failing to have the stairway properly lighted; (3) having loose metal strips on the stairs, knowing that many people would be using them.

The defendant answered, denying the material allegations of the complaint. Both parties filed interrogatories and both answered them. Thereafter the deposition of Mrs. Purvis was taken for discovery. The defendant moved for a summary judgment based upon the pleadings, the deposition of the plaintiff, Mrs. Purvis, and an affidavit of a member of the hospital staff who swore that she examined the stairs immediately after the fall of Mrs. Purvis and found no metal strips loose or any other foreign object which could have caused her to fall, and, in particular, the step which Mrs. Purvis pointed out to her as being the one which caused her to fall. The affidavit of one of defendant's attorneys is also attached with reference to the proceedings in a certain case rendered by the Court of Appeals which he attached as an exhibit thereto. The plaintiff responded to the motion by attaching the affidavit of Mr. Purvis for consideration, and also defendant's answer to plaintiff's interrogatories. After a hearing the motion was denied, and the court certified the decision for immediate review. The appeal is from this judgment denying the motion for summary judgment. Held:

1. On a motion for summary judgment by the defendant, the complaint is to be construed liberally in favor of the complainant The burden is upon the movant to show no genuine issue as to any material fact, and the opposing party is given the benefit of all favorable inferences that may be drawn from the evidence. Holland v. Sanfax Corporation, 106 Ga.App. 1, 126 S.E.2d 442; McCarty v. National Life & Accident Ins. Co., 107 Ga.App. 178, 179, 129 S.E.2d 408; Sanders v. Alpha Gamma Alumni Chapter, 106 Ga.App. 137, 126 S.E.2d 545; International Brotherhood of Boilermakers v. Newman, 116 Ga.App. 590, 592, 158 S.E.2d 298.

2. The mutuality of interest required to make one an invitee upon the premises of another does not mean that there must be a commercial business transaction between the...