Lipham v. Federated Dept. Stores, Inc.
| Decision Date | 28 February 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. S93G1122,S93G1122 |
| Citation | 440 S.E.2d 193,263 Ga. 865 |
| Parties | LIPHAM v. FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES, INC. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
John M. Hyatt, Georgia Trial Lawyers Ass'n, Decatur, for Lipham.
Elizabeth C. Helm, Richard T. Gieryn, Jr., Peter H. Schmidt, II, Stevan A. Miller, Drew, Eckl & Farnham, Atlanta, for Federated Dept. Stores, Inc.
We granted certiorari to the Court of Appeals to determine the appropriate standard of care to be applied in cases involving injuries caused by the negligence of a landowner's employee while on the employer's premises. The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's grant of summary judgment to Federated Department Stores, Inc., d/b/a Rich's (Rich's) on the grounds that Lipham was a licensee at the time of the injury and that the Rich's employee did not wilfully or wantonly injure Lipham. 208 Ga.App. 385, 430 S.E.2d 590. We reverse.
On the morning of September 27, 1988, Minnie Lipham drove to a shopping mall to walk. While walking around the Rich's building, she saw a crowd in the parking lot some fifty to sixty feet from the sidewalk. Lipham joined the crowd, which was standing and cheering around a roped-off area in which people were running and playing games. Lipham was standing behind Gavin Heal, an employee of Rich's, who was participating in the Rich's event; unexpectedly, Heal turned around quickly and unintentionally knocked Lipham to the ground, causing injury to her.
The cases agree that the duty owed by a landowner to one who enters upon his property depends, to a certain extent, on whether the one entering the property is an invitee, a licensee or a trespasser. See, e.g. Swanson v. Smith, 199 Ga.App. 471, 405 S.E.2d 301 (1991). Further, this duty pertains to the condition of the premises and is imposed because the landowner has control over the property and is thus able to act in order to protect others from conditions on the property which might cause harm. Daniel v. Georgia Power Company, 146 Ga.App. 596, 597, 247 S.E.2d 139 (1978); Scheer v. Cliatt, 133 Ga.App. 702, 704, 212 S.E.2d 29 (1975).
This case, however, does not concern a condition of the premises over which Rich's could have exercised some degree of control or of which Rich's could have warned; instead, the claims pertain to an act of active negligence 1 on the part of a Rich's employee. Accordingly, whether Lipham, who was on the property lawfully, is a licensee or an invitee is irrelevant and does...
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