McCaskill v. Carillo
| Decision Date | 14 October 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. A03A1261.,A03A1261. |
| Parties | McCASKILL v. CARILLO. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Francis C. Schenck, Atlanta, for appellant.
Ezor & Olens, Samuel S. Olens, Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers, Kenneth A. David, Michael R. Martin, William H. Buckley, Atlanta, for appellee.
Fred Carillo, Sr. (Carillo), injured as a result of tripping at his workplace, sued Foster Thomas McCaskill III (McCaskill) d/b/a Flooring Solutions, who was in the process of installing carpet tiles for Carillo's employer, Compaq. We granted McCaskill's application for interlocutory appeal to consider the trial court's denial of his motion for summary judgment. Concluding that he was entitled to summary judgment for the reasons set out below, we reverse.
On appeal from the grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment, we review the evidence de novo, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from the evidence are construed in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Blue Cross &c. of Ga. v. Kell, 227 Ga.App. 266, 267(1), 488 S.E.2d 735 (1997); Matjoulis v. Integon Gen. Ins. Corp., 226 Ga.App. 459(1), 486 S.E.2d 684 (1997).
Viewed in this light, the evidence shows that Carillo was the southeast district service manager for Compaq and worked in an office on the main floor of its office building. He had been with Compaq since February 1998, and had been in this particular office for over a year when he fell on December 27, 1999.
Carillo was aware that the area around his office and the area adjoining the restroom he used were being recarpeted. Carillo knew that, between Thanksgiving and the day of his accident, he had seen workmen in the area, although he believed most of the carpet work was being done after normal business hours. On the day of his fall, the hallways in his area had been recarpeted while the area in front of the entrance to the restroom had not and was bare concrete floor. Carillo stated that he tripped over the lip of carpet outside the men's room where the carpeted area met the uncarpeted area. As Carillo described his fall, He began experiencing pain down his right leg about 30 minutes later. Carillo underwent a laminectomy in October 2000, and a disc fusion in November 2001.
Carillo believed that the hallway area in front of the men's room had been carpeted for at least a couple of weeks and the area in front of the men's room had been without carpet for as long as a week before he fell. Carillo had worked those days during the week the area in front of the men's room remained uncarpeted.
On Monday, December 27, 1999, Carillo walked from his office to the men's room and entered without any problem. He admitted that, prior to his fall, he had been in and out of the men's room at least once with the floor in the same condition as when he fell. This time, as he left the men's room, Carillo tripped on the three-eighths-inch difference in height between the carpeted and uncarpeted areas.
McCaskill operated a sole proprietorship, Flooring Solutions, and had a written contract with general contractor Collins & Aikmen to install carpet at Compaq. Collins & Aikmen was responsible for providing McCaskill with carpet and McCaskill was responsible for installation of the carpet in connection with Compaq's year-long renovation. McCaskill orally subcontracted the bulk of the installation to individuals, although he did some installation himself. All of the work was done under the direction of Compaq employees Knight or Hunt. Ponce, one of McCaskill's subcontractors, had his own crew and used his own installation materials on the Compaq job and performed the bulk of the installation. Ponce's signatures are on the Pre-Carpet Inspection and Check-List forms used by Compaq for the period December 18, 1999, to January 4, 2000. These forms, used to document what McCaskill's crew moved from office spaces, were not used for hallway work because nothing was required to be moved.
Collins & Aikmen ran out of carpet squares during the Christmas holidays, resulting in areas of bare concrete in the Compaq offices for about a week, which was acceptable to Compaq. When...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Yash Solutions, LLC v. N.Y. Global Consultants Corp.
...and an award of attorney fees under OCGA § 13-6-11 will be affirmed if there is any evidence to support it).32 McCaskill v. Carillo , 263 Ga. App. 890, 890, 589 S.E.2d 582 (2003).33 Kelly v. Harris , 329 Ga. App. 752, 753, 766 S.E.2d 146 (2014) (punctuation omitted).34 Id. (punctuation omit......
-
Benefield v. Tominich.
...my serious doubts about the correctness of that decision. Accordingly, I concur dubitante. 1. See, e.g., McCaskill v. Carillo, 263 Ga.App. 890, 890, 589 S.E.2d 582 (2003) (“On appeal from the grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment, we review the evidence de novo, and all reasonabl......
-
Garden City v. Herrera
...of the City's motion for summary judgment.Judgment reversed.DOYLE, P.J., and MILLER, J., concur.1 See, e.g., McCaskill v. Carillo, 263 Ga.App. 890, 890, 589 S.E.2d 582 (2003) (“On appeal from the grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment, we review the evidence de novo, and all reaso......
-
B–t Two Inc. v. Bennett.
...evidence in the same way as the trial court, viewing it in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. See McCaskill v. Carillo, 263 Ga.App. 890, 589 S.E.2d 582 (2003). So viewed, the evidence shows that, on the evening of September 30, 2006, several individuals hosted a party at a pri......
-
Construction Law - Dennis J. Webb, Jr., Henry L. Balkcom Iv, and Dana R. Grantham
...at 643-44. 104. Id. at 806, 595 S.E.2d at 646. 105. Id. at 804 n.2, 595 S.E.2d at 644 n.2. 106. Id. at 805-06, 595 S.E.2d at 645. 107. 263 Ga. App. 890, 589 S.E.2d 582 (2003). 108. Id. at 890-91, 589 S.E.2d at 582-83. 109. Id. at 891-92, 589 S.E.2d at 583-84. 110. Id., 589 S.E.2d at 584. 11......