Rappaport v. Days Inn of America, Inc.

• Decision Date: 04 January 1979
• Docket Number: No. 45,45
• Citation: 250 S.E.2d 245,296 N.C. 382
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: Jeannie RAPPAPORT v. DAYS INN OF AMERICA, INCORPORATED.

Page 245

250 S.E.2d 245

296 N.C. 382

Jeannie RAPPAPORT v. DAYS INN OF AMERICA, INCORPORATED.

No. 45.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

Jan. 4, 1979.

John C. B. Regan, III, Lumberton, for plaintiff-appellant.

Anderson, Broadfoot & Anderson by Hal W. Broadfoot, Fayetteville, for defendant-appellee.

HUSKINS, Justice:

The sole question presented by this appeal is whether plaintiff's evidence, considered in the light most favorable to her, is sufficient to repel the motion for a directed verdict and carry the case to the jury. We hold that it is.

We commence with the observation that an innkeeper is not an insurer of the personal safety of his guests but is required "to exercise due care to keep his premises in a reasonably safe condition and to warn his guests of any hidden peril." Page v. Sloan, 281 N.C. 697, 190 S.E.2d 189 (1972); Barnes v. Hotel Corp., 229 N.C. 730, 51 S.E.2d 180 (1949). The owner of the premises is liable for injuries resulting from his failure to exercise ordinary care to keep in a reasonably safe condition that part of the premises where, during business hours guests and other invitees may be expected. "The owner's duty extends to a parking lot provided by the owner for the use of the invitees." Game v. Charles Stores Co., 268 N.C. 676, 151 S.E.2d 560 (1966). A guest who enters upon the premises by invitation, express or implied, is an invitee. Hood v. Coach Co., 249 N.C. 534, 107 S.E.2d 154 (1959). Plaintiff has the burden of showing negligence and proximate cause, Hinson v. Cato's, Inc., 271 N.C. 738, 157 S.E.2d 537 (1967), and allegations of negligence not supported by the evidence must be disregarded. Garner v. Greyhound Corp., 250 N.C. 151, 108 S.E.2d 461, 81 A.L.R.2d 741 (1959).

Defendant's motion for a directed verdict under Rule 50(a) presents substantially the same question as formerly presented by a motion for judgment of nonsuit under former but now repealed G.S. 1-183. Kelly v. Harvester Co., 278 N.C. 153, 179 S.E.2d 396 (1971). The question raised by such a motion is whether the evidence is sufficient to go to the jury. Summey v. Cauthen, 283 N.C. 640, 197 S.E.2d 549 (1973). In passing upon such motion the court must consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-movant. Kelly v. Harvester Co., supra. That is, "the evidence in favor of the non-movant must be deemed true, all conflicts in the evidence must be resolved in his favor and he is entitled to the benefit of every inference reasonably to be drawn in his favor." Summey v. Cauthen, supra. It is only when the evidence is insufficient to support a verdict in the non-movant's favor that the motion should be granted. Husketh v. Convenient Systems, 295 N.C. 459, 245 S.E.2d 507 (1978); Dickinson v. Pake, 284 N.C. 576, 201 S.E.2d 897 (1974).

With respect to contributory negligence as a matter of law, "(t)he general rule is that a directed verdict for a defendant on the ground of contributory negligence may only be granted when the evidence taken in the light most favorable to plaintiff establishes her negligence so clearly that no other reasonable inference or conclusion may be drawn therefrom. Contradictions or discrepancies in the evidence even when arising from plaintiff's evidence must be resolved by the jury rather than the trial judge." Clark v. Bodycombe, 289 N.C. 246, 221 S.E.2d 506 (1976); Accord, Bowen v. Rental Co., 283 N.C. 395, 196 S.E.2d 789 (1973).

When tested by these rules what does the evidence show? Plaintiff's daughter testified that no parking spaces were available on the same side of the building where their rooms were located and her husband pulled into a parking space that was available "right behind the building"; that "the lighting conditions in the area where plaintiff fell was dark. I did not see any spotlight. The only lights that I saw was a dim glow from far away . . . but there was no light where we were. . . . When we arrived back from the hospital in the early morning we parked in the same spot and I noticed from the distance the bulbs or spots (spotlights) and it was not lighted. We continued registered in that motel for about a week after March 25th. I did not ever notice that light on at any other time and I don't remember lights on a post in that general vicinity. . . . You cannot see the motel porch from where we parked that night so I don't know whether the lights on the motel porch were on or not. I did not see a spotlight. . . . When I got out of the car it was dark. . . ."

Leon Sherman, plaintiff's son-in-law, testified that they "stopped in Lumberton at the Days Inn at approximately 9 p. m. on the 25th day of March. . . . It was nighttime and dark. . . . After I registered for two rooms I returned to the car and proceeded to the end of the motel to locate our rooms. When I arrived at the approximate location of our rooms there was only one space left and it was at the very end of the motel. . . . I parked immediately adjacent to the building. . . . My wife got out of the car . . . and walked ahead with the key to the room. . . . There at the place that I parked there were no lights on the outside of the motel except under the walkway of the rooms. . . . I do know that it was very very dark, and I noticed that when I had to maneuver my car into the parking space. As we proceeded toward our room I followed my wife with my mother-in-law behind me and as we proceeded to our rooms I heard my mother-in-law make an exclamation from approximately ten to fifteen feet behind me. . . . I dropped my suitcase and ran back to her and found her in a seated position on the pavement of the parking lot. . . . I seated her on one of the suitcases and my wife went to get the manager of the motel" who opened the door to Room 147 and helped carry her in. "We remained in the Days Inn or at the hospital for approximately seven or eight days . . . and during that time . . . did have one occasion to observe that same area during the nighttime. The lighting conditions of that area on the 25th of March were dark, and on the day of the 26th of March I observed a spotlight on the brick wall in the immediate vicinity where my mother-in-law fell. That spotlight consisted of two spotlights in the center of a...