Register v. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Civ. A. No. 456.

• Court: United States District Courts. 4th Circuit. Eastern District of North Carolina
• Writing for the Court: Jones, Reed & Griffin, Kinston, N. C., for plaintiff
• Citation: 235 F. Supp. 847
• Decision Date: 06 March 1964
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 456.
• Parties: Mrs. Gladys REGISTER v. GREAT ATLANTIC & PACIFIC TEA COMPANY.

235 F. Supp. 847

Mrs. Gladys REGISTER
v.
GREAT ATLANTIC & PACIFIC TEA COMPANY.

Civ. A. No. 456.

United States District Court E. D. North Carolina, New Bern Division.

March 6, 1964.

Jones, Reed & Griffin, Kinston, N. C., for plaintiff.

White & Aycock, Kinston, N. C., for defendant.

235 F. Supp. 848

STERLING HUTCHESON, District Judge.

The plaintiff is a resident of North Carolina and the defendant is a foreign corporation authorized to do business in North Carolina.

This action is to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by the defendant. The court has jurisdiction under the Diversity Statute.

On June 8, 1956 plaintiff, Mrs. Gladys Register, who resides in Lenoir County, entered the retail self-service grocery store operated by the defendant in the city of Kinston for the purpose of making purchases.

Accompanied by her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Sally Register, the plaintiff entered the store, turned right, where the marketing carts were located. Her daughter-in-law selected a cart and proceeded to turn left into an aisle leading by the frozen food department. At the end of that department was located the vegetable department. To the left of the point where the two departments met was another aisle passing between other containers upon which produce was displayed. Proceeding through this aisle, the daughter-in-law, Mrs. Sally Register, propelling the cart, again turned right into an aisle, to the left of which were shelves containing, among other articles, salad dressing. The Plaintiff, who was seeking salad dressing, followed Mrs. Sally Register. After entering the last mentioned aisle, the plaintiff slipped and fell, receiving severe injuries. It was shown that the substance upon which she slipped was a piece of celery stalk about two to three inches long, flat, mangled, mushy, brownish, wet and gritty. From the marks, it appeared that the fall was caused by the flat wedge-shaped heel of plaintiff's shoe descending upon the celery which left a mark on the floor extending from one to two feet.

This occurrence took place a few minutes after two o'clock P.M. The porter, whose duty it was to sweep the floor twice during the morning and twice during the afternoon, with spot cleaning in the meantime when needed, had returned from his lunch at two o'clock. This was established not only by the testimony of the porter but by the testimony of three other employees of the defendant. The store was approximately 75 × 150 feet and there were six aisles extending lengthwise. Approximately ten minutes before the plaintiff fell the porter, beginning at the frozen food department, had been over the floor with a string mop. He testified that when the plaintiff fell, he had completed all six aisles and had put away his mop. At the point the plaintiff fell, the display stands to her left extended to the floor. To her right the display stands consisted of bins with floor spaces open below the containers.

It was testified in behalf of the defendant that its policy was to keep the floor clean and employees were charged with the duty of removing any objects found in the aisles. The store was properly lighted and the floor was covered with gray and green tile.

The defendant is not an insurer of the safety of the plaintiff but is charged with the duty to keep its premises in a reasonably safe condition, which implies the duty to make reasonable inspections and...