Georgia Power Co. v. McGruder
| Decision Date | 04 December 1972 |
| Docket Number | No. 27433,27433 |
| Citation | 229 Ga. 811,194 S.E.2d 440 |
| Parties | GEORGIA POWER COMPANY v. Willie Mae McGRUDER. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Certiorari to the Court of Appeals of Georgia.
Jones, Cork, Miller & Benton, Wallace Miller, Jr., W. Warren Plowden, Macon, for appellant.
Benjamin B. Garland, Jackson, Benjamin M. Garland, Macon, for appellee.
Syllabus Opinion by the Court
Willie Mae McGruder filed a complaint against the Georgia Power Company for the wrongful death of her ten-year-old son who drowned in a pool of water located below the defendant's dam and power plant on Lake Jackson. The boy was trapped inside a drainage pipe which runs from said pool to a lower-lying pool about 20 feet away. The complaint alleged several grounds of liability. The defendant's motion for summary judgment was granted by the trial court.
The Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the trial court. It held that the claim was governed by an Act of the General Assembly of 1965 (Ga.L.1965, p. 476) entitled 'Liability of Owners of Recreational Areas'. Code Ann. § 105-403 through 105-409. McGruder v. Georgia Power Co., 126 Ga.App. 562, 191 S.E.2d 305. We granted certiorari to review this judgment. Held:
Section 1 of Georgia Laws of 1965, p. 476 provides: 'The purpose of this Act is to encourage owners of land to make land and water areas available to the public for recreational purposes by limiting their liability toward persons entering thereon for such purposes.' Code Ann. § 105-403.
Section 4 of the Act provides: 'Except as specifically recognized by or provided in section 6 of this Act, an owner of land who either directly or indirectly invites or permits without charge any person to use such property for recreational purposes does not thereby . . .' Code Ann. § 105-406.
The evidence presented upon the motion for summary judgment showed the defendant's employees did not know of the boy's presence but knew that in the past persons had been swimming and fishing in its waters. Photographs in evidence showed that there were located on the power plant and dam above the place where the boy drowned two large warning signs which stated: The Act of 1965 (Ga.L.1965, p. 476; Code Ann. § 105-403) limits the liability of an owner of land who 'directly or indirectly invites or permits without charge any person to use such property for recreational...
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McMellon v. U.S.
...not apply if the plaintiff is injured in an off-limits area within an otherwise open recreational area, see Georgia Power Co. v. McGruder, 229 Ga. 811, 194 S.E.2d 440, 441 (1972), while the statute would apply in those circumstances in Indiana, see McCormick v. Indiana, 673 N.E.2d 829, 834-......
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Klepper v. City of Milford, Kansas
...472 F.Supp. 998 (C.D.Ill.1979); cf. McGruder v. Georgia Power Co., 126 Ga.App. 562, 191 S.E.2d 305, rev.'d on other grounds, 229 Ga. 811, 194 S.E.2d 440 (1972) (willfulness includes willingness to make an omission rather than inattentive, inadvertent omission; test excludes duty to inspect)......
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...no-trespassing signs, which appears to be a determinative factor for applying the recreational-use statute. See Georgia Power Co. v. McGruder, 229 Ga. 811, 194 S.E.2d 440 (1972). However, neither implied permission nor recreational use enhances Union Camp's duties owed to Nye beyond those o......