Hall v. Van's Photo, Inc.

• Decision Date: 28 February 1992
• Citation: 595 So.2d 1368
• Parties: Jeffrey K. HALL and Susan R. Hall v. VAN'S PHOTO, INC. 1910087.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Page 1368

595 So.2d 1368

Jeffrey K. HALL and Susan R. Hall v. VAN'S PHOTO, INC.

1910087.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

Feb. 28, 1992.

Harold Gene Peck, Florence, for appellants.

David K. Howard, Tuscumbia, for appellee.

KENNEDY, Justice.

The plaintiffs appeal from a summary judgment in favor of the defendant, Van's Photo, Inc. The evidence presented to the trial court indicated the following:

On June 8, 1989, Susan Hall took a roll of 35-millimeter film to Van's Photo for processing. Ms. Hall says she explained to the manager of Van's Photo that the photographs were of her three-year-old son and that they depicted him nude. She says she further explained that the photographs were made in order to have a nude, bronze statue cast of the boy by an artist in Massachusetts. Ms. Hall also says that because of the nature of the photographs, she wanted to wait in the photo shop for the pictures to be processed. She says that the manager said that she had no problem with processing photographs of this nature. Ms. Hall says that she waited in the store for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour and then left the store with the photographs.

The manager and another employee of Van's Photo say that Ms. Hall did not explain the nature of the photographs to them. The manager and the employee say that while processing the roll of film they viewed the photographs and became concerned that the pictures could be child pornography. We note that there was evidence that is the policy of Van's Photo to view every photograph it develops in order to check the quality of the work. The manager telephoned the vice-president of Van's Photo, and he told the manager to make a duplicate set of the photographs to be forwarded to him. Both the manager and the employee stated that Ms. Hall did not wait in the store for the photographs but, instead, picked them up an hour later.

The vice-president of Van's Photo viewed the photographs, and he says that he decided that there was sufficient suspicion, in his opinion, to send the photographs to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, pursuant to the Child Abuse Reporting Act, §§ 26-14-1 through -13, Ala.Code 1975. The F.B.I. agents viewed the photographs and as a result the Florence Police Department obtained a warrant to search the home of Ms. Hall and her husband, based on the photographs. The State Department of Human Resources also assisted in the search. No evidence of child pornography was found in the home, and the case was later dismissed.

Ms. Hall and her husband, Jeffrey K. Hall, sued Van's Photo, claiming breach of contract, fraud, invasion of privacy, outrageous infliction of emotional distress, and reckless infliction of emotional distress. The trial court entered a summary judgment in favor of Van's Photo on all claims.

A summary judgment is appropriate only when the moving party shows "that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Rule 56(c), A.R.Civ.P. Once the moving party has made a prima facie showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact, the non-moving party must present "substantial" evidence of the existence of a genuine issue of material fact, that is, "evidence of such weight and quality that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment can reasonably infer the existence of the fact sought to be proved." West v. Founders Life Assurance Co. of Florida, 547 So.2d 870, 871 (Ala.1989). The evidence must be viewed in a light most favorable to the nonmoving pa...