Columbus Doctors Hosp., Inc. v. Thompson, A96A1846
| Decision Date | 04 February 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. A96A1846,A96A1846 |
| Citation | 224 Ga.App. 682,482 S.E.2d 705 |
| Parties | , 97 FCDR 462 COLUMBUS DOCTORS HOSPITAL, INC., v. THOMPSON et al. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Tisinger, Tisinger, Vance & Greer, Kevin B. Buice, Carrollton, for appellant.
Denney, Pease, Allison & Kirk, John W. Denney, Elizabeth S. Morgan, Columbus, for appellees.
Sharon Thompson slipped and fell on ice which had naturally accumulated in the parking lot at Columbus Doctors Hospital as a result of a snow storm. She sued the hospital claiming the serious head injury she suffered in the fall was caused by the hospital's failure to exercise ordinary care to keep its premises safe for invitees. Thompson's husband, Thomas Thompson, also sued the hospital for loss of consortium caused by the injury sustained in the fall. We granted the hospital's application for a discretionary appeal from the trial court's denial of its motion for summary judgment.
We conclude that the hospital was entitled to summary judgment in its favor because, even though the evidence shows Thompson could not see the clear ice on which she slipped and fell despite exercising ordinary care for her own safety, there is no evidence that the hospital had any actual or constructive knowledge of the ice which caused the fall.
Thompson slipped and fell in the parking lot of the hospital on Monday morning after she drove there for a medical appointment. On the Saturday prior to that Monday, the entire area had been covered with snow by a major storm. On Monday morning, the weather was clear, but snow was still visible in some areas, and it was still cold. Thompson parked her car in the uncovered upper parking deck at the hospital. She noticed some snow and slush up against the curb on the deck where she parked and a small amount of slush between the parked cars, which she walked around. She walked to the rear of her car, took about three or four more steps, and slipped and fell. She did not see what she slipped on although she was looking where she was walking and down at the surface of the deck. After she fell, she could feel with her hands that she had slipped on a thin sheet of clear ice, even though she still could not see the ice while sitting on it.
All of the evidence shows that the invisible ice on which Thompson slipped and fell was naturally occurring rather than the result of any affirmative action taken by the hospital. The evidence shows that hospital maintenance personnel were aware of the general weather conditions and the presence of some remaining snow and slush on parts of the upper deck, but there is no evidence that they knew about the invisible ice on which Thompson slipped. Although the hospital's director of plant operations testified on deposition that two entrances to the upper parking deck, the north bridge and the west ramp, were closed on Monday morning because of potentially hazardous conditions at those entrances, the third entrance to the upper deck remained open, and the upper parking deck itself remained open at all times. The director of plant operations and one of his employees both deposed that, although there were some visible spots of snow and slush on the upper parking deck on Monday morning, they saw no areas that appeared to be iced over. There is no evidence that anyone else had slipped or fallen on the parking deck prior to Thompson. There is no...
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