Hall v. Thompson
| Decision Date | 01 November 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. A89A1390,A89A1390 |
| Citation | 388 S.E.2d 381,193 Ga.App. 574 |
| Parties | HALL et al. v. THOMPSON. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Sherry L. Stenson, Atlanta, for appellants.
Kelly, Denney, Pease & Allison, Ronald W. Self, Columbus, for appellee.
This is a defective condition case, arising from the plaintiff's fall when a plank broke on the porch of her mother's rented house. Plaintiff's mother had lived in the house 10-12 years and this plank had "sagged" for years. Plaintiff visited her mother each day and crossed this plank, always avoiding stepping on it because she knew it was hazardous. On this day, she forgot about the plank's condition and stepped on it, whereupon it sagged and broke. Plaintiff conceded she had never made a specific complaint to the landlord about this plank. Held:
1. The trial court granted summary judgment to defendant landlord, evidently upon the basis that the landlord did not possess "superior knowledge" of this hazardous condition. See generally Alterman Foods v. Ligon, 246 Ga. 620, 622, 272 S.E.2d 327; Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Reid, 132 Ga.App. 136, 138, 207 S.E.2d 532.
The ruling in this case is correct. Even though the condition of the premises may be hazardous and the landlord negligent, he may not be liable for injury where plaintiff had equal or superior knowledge of the alleged defect. If plaintiff knows of a defect, "(she) must make use of all (her) senses in a reasonable measure amounting to ordinary care in discovering and avoiding those things that might cause hurt to (her)." King Hardware Co. v. Teplis, 91 Ga.App. 13, 15, 84 S.E.2d 686; Taylor v. McDonald, 183 Ga.App. 320, 321, 359 S.E.2d 1.
There is no material issue of fact in the case that plaintiff had specific knowledge of the condition of the plank and of the particular danger of stepping on it. See Telligman v. Monumental Properties, 161 Ga.App. 13, 16, 288 S.E.2d 846. She simply forgot to be careful; this forgetfulness or inattention to a known specific danger does not make the defendant liable for her injury.
Appellant cites Thompson v. Crownover, 259 Ga. 126, 377 S.E.2d 660, as authority imposing liability on the landlord, but in that case, it was clear the landlord had specific prior notice of the deteriorating condition of the gas heater which injured the plaintiff. Moreover, Thompson involved an inherently dangerous defect which the tenants could hardly avoid, or at least there is a substantial jury question on that issue. It cannot easily be compared to a case like this involving a loose plank which the plaintiff has avoided in the past and clearly could have avoided on this occasion, with the exercise of ordinary care. Further, we find it imperative to note that although Thompson has reaffirmed the existence in Georgia of the landlord's duty to exercise reasonable care in repairing defective conditions and keeping his premises in repair (id., pp. 128-129, 377 S.E.2d 660); and, although ordinarily questions of the plaintiff's own negligence or assumption of risk are not susceptible to summary adjudication (i.e., p. 129, 377 S.E.2d 660),...
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