N.L. Industries, Inc. v. Madison, s. 70230

• Decision Date: 04 October 1985
• Docket Number: Nos. 70230,70231,s. 70230
• Citation: 176 Ga.App. 451,336 S.E.2d 574
• Parties: N.L. INDUSTRIES, INC. v. MADISON. SAYLER MANUFACTURING CORPORATION v. MADISON.
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

Page 574

336 S.E.2d 574

176 Ga.App. 451

N.L. INDUSTRIES, INC. v. MADISON.

SAYLER MANUFACTURING CORPORATION v. MADISON.

Nos. 70230, 70231.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Oct. 4, 1985.

Rehearing Denied Oct. 17, 1985.

Certiorari Denied Nov. 26, 1985.

Fred S. Clark, Robert S. Glenn Jr., Harold Yellin, Savannah, for appellant (case no. 70230).

Robert S. Glenn, Jr., Harold B. Yellin, Savannah, for appellant (case no. 70231).

Barnard M. Portman, Edward T. Brennan, Savannah, for appellee.

POPE, Judge.

Appellee William J. Madison brought this action for damages for personal injuries suffered as the result of the alleged negligence of appellants N.L. Industries, Inc. (Baroid Petroleum Services, hereinafter "Baroid") and Sayler Manufacturing Corporation (hereinafter "Sayler"). Madison was injured while attempting to board the Gulf Fleet Number 34, a vessel owned and operated by Gulf Fleet Atlantic, Inc. (hereinafter "Gulf Fleet") and upon which Madison was employed as a first mate. At the time Madison was injured, the Gulf Fleet Number 34 was moored to a docking facility owned by Sayler and leased to Baroid. Appellants answered denying liability, filed cross-claims against one another, and filed third-party complaints against Gulf Fleet. Trial of the case was bifurcated so that the issues relating to the third-party complaint could be heard separately. Following a trial on Madison's negligence claims against appellants, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Madison and against appellants in the amount of $111,000, and judgment was entered thereon less $26,778.75 paid to Madison by Gulf Fleet in return for a covenant not to sue. Appellants bring these appeals following the denial of their motions for new trial and j.n.o.v., and same have been consolidated for consideration here.

1. Both appellants challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict and judgment entered against them and cite as error, inter alia, the trial court's denial of their motions j.n.o.v. The facts, construed most strongly in support of the verdict and judgment, show the following: Madison's employer, Gulf Fleet, conducted business as an oil industry service company. In July 1979 Gulf Fleet was using the Gulf Fleet Number 34 as a transport vessel to carry supplies and cargo to an oil rig some 50 miles off the Georgia coast. Dock space for the Gulf Fleet Number 34 was provided by Baroid at the Sayler facility along River Street in Savannah. Baroid had leased this facility from Sayler to use as a staging area for the storage and loading of supplies to be transported by Gulf Fleet's vessels. The lease agreement between Baroid and Sayler provided that Sayler was to retain the noninterfering use of the land, dock and rail siding. Baroid engaged in some repair and maintenance of the dock area and installed bulk tanks and nearby lighting. An officer of Sayler also held the dual role of salaried employee of Baroid, and Sayler's employees were hired to service the facility.

The dock space at which the Gulf Fleet Number 34 was berthed consisted of interlocking metal sheets forming a bulkhead which functioned as a retaining wall. Sayler constructed this facility in 1969 and is in the business of designing and building marine facilities. The Sayler facility was examined in 1979, prior to the subject incident, by John McNamara, an expert in marine construction and engineering. In his opinion the Sayler facility had been constructed with an inherent defect which permitted loose sand from behind the bulkhead to filter out from the base of the retaining wall. Such process is a common occurrence and results in the formation of hidden cavities beneath the surface of the dock which after time would give way under the weight of a man. He testified: "It creates a looseness in the soil because part of the particles have been extracted and washed out with the water. This means then that the soil is not compacted and if you put weight and compress that soil, it will create a depression but it won't create a hole. I mean, you won't fall all the way into the cavity." McNamara also testified as to certain measures which could be taken to remedy this situation. Sayler was advised of this defect prior to Madison's injuries.

The Gulf Fleet Number 34 arrived at the Sayler facility at approximately 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. on Friday, July 13, 1979. Madison left his vessel on foot and went into town. After making several small purchases at a local convenience store, he returned to River Street, stopping off at several restaurants/bars where he consumed slightly more than five mugs of beer. At approximately 1:00 a.m. on July 14, Madison returned to the Sayler facility to board his vessel. Lighting along the immediate dock area was dim, with one light fixture broken and dangling. Madison was injured when he positioned himself at the edge of the bulkhead and was preparing to step down a couple of feet to board his vessel. He approximated the distance from the edge of the bulkhead down to his vessel to be in relation to "stepping off a kitchen chair--not a jump, not a leap, not something I would have needed to swing across on a rope, but it was a good long step." He shifted his weight to his left foot to board the vessel when, according to Madison, the sand beneath his feet gave way, giving him a sinking sensation "like a very fast elevator." He fell forward, and his knee was forced to bend in the opposite direction from that which is normal. His left leg became entangled in a piece of cable at the front of a piling. For the next hour and a half, Madison hung suspended by his left leg, upside down and between the vessel and the retaining wall. He was eventually seen by a watchman on deck who helped disengage his leg. Madison stated that he was in shock at this point and had "managed to throw up all over myself." He was subsequently transported by ambulance to a hospital emergency room. At the hospital the nurse on duty noted on Madison's admission report: "smells of E.T.O.H." "E.T.O.H." was explained as meaning alcohol. Madison was treated and subsequently transferred to his hometown of Newport, Rhode Island for further treatment and care.

"Where an owner or occupier of land, by express or implied invitation, induces or leads others to come upon his premises for any lawful purpose, he is liable in damages to such persons for injuries caused by his failure to exercise ordinary care in keeping the premises and approaches safe." OCGA § 51-3-1. "An invitation may be implied by a dedication, or may arise from known customary use, and it may be inferred from conduct, if notorious or actually known to the owner or his authorized representative, or from any state of facts upon which it naturally and necessarily arises." Smith v. Jewell Cotton Mill Co., 29 Ga.App. 461(2), 116 S.E. 17 (1923). There is no merit whatsoever in appellants' implausible assertions on appeal that Madison was not an invitee upon the subject dock. Both appellants admitted in testimony at trial that Madison and other members of the crew of the Gulf Fleet Number 34 were invited, at least by implication, to use the premises. Moreover, under the facts in this case the "invitation" to the crew to traverse the dock naturally and necessarily arose by appellants' agreement with the vessel's owner to provide a docking facility. It is illogical to assume, in the absence of any evidence of a prohibition, that crew members, after having spent several days at sea, would not use the dock as a means of ingress and egress between the vessel and town. There is no evidence that Madison, at the time he was injured, was other than an invitee on the subject dock. Compare Kinnebrew v. Ocean Steamship Co., 47 Ga.App. 704(1), 171 S.E. 385 (1933).

Because Madison was an invitee on the dock when he suffered his injuries, appellants owed a duty to him to exercise ordinary care to keep the premises safe and/or to warn him of any hidden dangers or defects. "The owner or occupier of land is under a duty to invitees to discover and either keep the premises safe from or warn of hidden dangers or defects not observable to such invitees in the exercise of ordinary care." Georgia Farmers' Mkt. Auth. v. Dabbs, 150 Ga.App. 15, 16, 256 S.E.2d 613 (1979). "The duty to keep the premises safe for invitees extends to all portions of the premises which it is necessary for the invitee to use in the course of the business for which the invitation was extended, and at which his presence should therefore be reasonably anticipated, or to which he is allowed to go ... The duty to keep premises safe for invitees extends to hidden dangers ... A person responsible for such a dangerous place ... must guard, cover, or protect it, for the safety of persons rightfully at or near it, and timely warning thereof should be given to such persons." Coffer v. Bradshaw, 46 Ga.App. 143 (7, 8), 167 S.E.119 (1932). "It is well to observe that where, as in this case, an owner of property leases it to be used in the conduct of a business, those coming upon the premises in connection with the conduct of the business are invitees of the owner and proprietor alike." Cooper v. Anderson, 96 Ga.App. 800, 808, 101 S.E.2d 770 (1957), affd. Anderson v....