Conaway v. McCrory Stores Corp., 32869

• Decision Date: 07 July 1950
• Docket Number: No. 32869,No. 2,32869,2
• Citation: 60 S.E.2d 631,82 Ga.App. 97
• Parties: CONAWAY v. McCRORY STORES CORPORATION
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

Page 631

60 S.E.2d 631

82 Ga.App. 97

CONAWAY v. McCRORY STORES CORPORATION.

No. 32869.

Court of Appeals of Georgia, Division No. 2.

July 7, 1950.

Syllabus by the Court.

The court did not err in sustaining the general demurrer to the petition.

Mrs. Pearl L. Conaway brought an action for damages against McCrory Stores Corporation. The material allegations were substantially as follows: On March 22, 1949 about 12:30 o'clock Mrs. Conaway, a lady of 53 years of age, entered the southernmost doors on Whitehall Street of a five-and-ten-cent store owned and operated by the defendant at 73 Whitehall Street S.W. in Atlanta. She intended to shop in the store and was at all times referred to herein an invitee of the defendant. Since approximately 9:00 o'clock a. m. and up to 12:30 o'clock p. m. and at 73 Whitehall Street it had been raining fairly constantly in almost continuous showers. The floor of the defendant's store for a spaceof one or two feet just inside of the southernmost doors on Whitehall Street was at all times herein and at the time the plaintiff stepped therein was slippery, unwalkworthy and dangerous due to the negligence of the defendant and the defendant's employees and agents acting within the scope of their employment. This condition and danger was not a obvious and apparent danger which could have been discovered by Mrs. Conaway by the exercise of ordinary care. Mrs. Conaway had no knowledge or notice of the defective condition of 'the unapparent dangerousness or extreme dangerousness or unsafeness of the floor just inside said southernmost doors.' Mrs. Conaway was one of many shoppers coming into the store and had no opportunity to make a careful, minute inspection or examination of the floors or of the dangerousness or slipperiness of the floors since she had just entered and the floors for a space of two or three feet just inside of the doors contained a serious latent defect and hidden danger of being extremely slick and slippery and wet with water or some substance thereon which was unknown to Mrs. Conaway and she had no realization or apprehension of the extreme danger or risk thereof. just after opening the southernmost doors of the defendant's store, the plaintiff, through no fault or lack of ordinary care on her own part, proceeded and took one or two steps into the store when her foot skidded across the slippery floor causing her to be thrown to the floor and to suffer enumerated injuries, which were the proximate result of the negligence of the defendant and of its employees and agents acting in and for the defendant in the scope of their employment. Upuntil 12:30 o'clock p. m. and the time the plaintiff fell on March 22, 1949, neither the defendant nor its agents, employees, or servants 'had swept up, mopped, cleaned up, spread sand on or gravel upon or inspected or did anything to correct the slippery wet condition of the floors just inside the southern doors of its store * * * although water and dirt had been regularly tracked into said store from numerous customers between 9:00 o'clock and 12:30 o'clock p. m.' The allegations of negligence on the part of the defendant and its employees and servants 'while working in the scope of their employment for the defendant,' are: 'In failing for an unreasonable length of time from 9:00 o'clock a. m. to 12:30 p. m. * * * to mop up, clean up, sweep up, spread sand on or gravel upon or do anything to correct the slippery condition of the floor of the defendant's store * * * whereupon customers were invited to walk upon, * * * when defendant actually knew that whenever it rained steadily for an hour or more their scores and hundreds of customers would bring in water and dirt into said store just inside said doors, and that said action caused said floors just inside of said doors to become extremely slippery and dangerous; (b) Infailing to warn petitioner Mrs. Conaway at the time and place above described * * * that the floor in its store just inside the * * * doors on Whitechall Street was slippery and extremely dangerous when defendant actually knew that said floor was extremely slippery and extremely dangerous at all times herein and 12:30 o'clock p. m. on March 22, 1949; (c) In failing for an unreasonable length of time * * * to carefully inspect its floors just inside its southernmost doors on Whitehall Street to see whether water and debris has been tracked into said store and to see whether said floors were slippery and dangerous, the result of which careful inspection would have disclosed to defendant that said floors just inside its southernmost doors were extremely slippery and dangerous; (d) In failing to mop up, clean up, sweep away, put gravel or sand down upon floors or do anything to correct slippery, wet and extreme dangerous condition of floors of defendant's * * * store * * * although defendant had constructive notice of the wet, slippery and extremely dangerous condition of its floors * * * by virtue of the fact that for years before and up until just before March 22, 1949, the defendant had employed several porters, one of whose express and main jobs was to put sand and gravel down promptly in front of said * * * doors * * * whenever it rained as long as an hour or frequently less so as to keep said floors from becoming and remaining slippery from water and debris being tracked in from the streets, and by virtue of the fact that several persons had...