River Place at Port Royal Condo. Ass'n, Inc. v. Sapp

• Decision Date: 02 March 2021
• Docket Number: A20A1923
• Citation: 856 S.E.2d 28,358 Ga.App. 632
• Parties: RIVER PLACE AT PORT ROYAL CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC. v. SAPP.
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

358 Ga.App. 632

856 S.E.2d 28

RIVER PLACE AT PORT ROYAL CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC.

v.SAPP.

A20A1923

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

March 2, 2021

J. Wesley Padgett, Joseph Y. Rahimi II, Savannah, Haley Elizabeth Allen, for Appellant.

Victor Hawk, Reid Vanlee Sanders, Augusta, for Appellee.

Dillard, Presiding Judge.

In this premises-liability action, Shelisa Sapp sued River Place at Port Royal Condominium Association, Inc., where she worked as a security guard. Specifically, she alleges that River Place breached a duty it owed her as an invitee, with the result being that she slipped on water that leaked from an overhead pipe onto the floor of a break room and suffered injuries. River Place moved for summary judgment, which the trial court denied. In this interlocutory appeal, River Place contends that the trial court erred in concluding that genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether it had superior knowledge of the hazard and whether Sapp failed to exercise ordinary care for her own safety. For the reasons set forth infra , we reverse.

Viewed in the light most favorable to Sapp (i.e. , the nonmoving party),¹ the record shows that River Place is the condominium owner's association that manages the River Place at Port Royal Condominiums in Augusta. Because it does not have its own employees, River Place hires third-party contractors to perform the various functions required to maintain a condominium complex, including security. And in May 2012, River Place hired Sizemore Security Services to provide safety officers for the premises. According to the Handbook and Operating Manual for River Place, a safety officer's responsibilities at the condominium complex entail providing security, concierge services, and routine maintenance inspections, including checking for water leaks on the premises.

In June 2012, Sizemore hired Sapp to work as a safety officer at River Place; and, over the course of a year, she did so without incident. On August 18, 2013, Sapp arrived at River Place around 8:00 a.m. for the start of her shift. Shortly after arriving, she went to the break room—located on the fifth floor of the complex—to place her lunch in the refrigerator. As she entered the break room, the overhead light—which was controlled by a motion sensor—illuminated, and Sapp walked across the room, put her lunch in the refrigerator, and exited, without noticing any hazard. And because she was busy that day, Sapp did not return to the break room until around 4:00 p.m. But this time, as she entered the room, she was walking at a brisk pace, so the motion sensor did not illuminate immediately. Then, just as the light illuminated, Sapp felt herself suddenly slipping across the floor before falling.

After sitting up, Sapp noticed that the floor was wet and water was dripping down onto the floor from an overhead pipe—something she had never previously observed. She then got up and walked back to the security desk in the complex's lobby. At that point, she called Jacqueline Haab—who was the vice-president of the River Place board—to report her accident and the water hazard in the break room. And upon arriving at the security desk, Haab helped bandage Sapp's knee, which she injured in the fall, and then went to the break room to clean up the water. There, Haab noticed a spot or two on the floor, but not enough to be absorbed by the paper towel she used. And although she could not see high enough to determine if the pipes had moisture on them, Haab surmised that those pipes were the source of drops on the floor.

Subsequently, Sapp filed a lawsuit against River Place, alleging that it breached a duty it owed her as an invitee when it failed to keep its premises free from the hazard caused by the leaky pipes in the break room, with the result being that she slipped on water that had dripped onto the floor and suffered a serious knee injury. River Place filed an answer, and discovery ensued, during which the parties deposed Sapp and Haab. In addition, the parties deposed Richard Eargle, an independent contractor, who often performed maintenance work at the complex. And while Eargle was not an employee of Sizemore Security, he reported all maintenance issues to Sizemore's site supervisor for River Place, Melvin Begley.

After discovery closed, River Place filed a motion for summary judgment, which the trial court denied, finding that genuine issues of material fact remained as to whether River Place had superior knowledge of the hazard and whether Sapp failed to exercise ordinary care for her own safety. Thereafter, River Place successfully sought a certificate of immediate review and filed an application for interlocutory appeal, which we granted. This appeal follows.

Summary judgment is, of course, proper if "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law."² Whether summary judgment is granted or denied, that decision enjoys no presumption of correctness on appeal, and an appellate court must satisfy itself that the requirements of OCGA § 9-11-56 (c) have been met.³ And in conducting this de novo review, we are charged with "viewing the evidence, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant."⁴

Turning to the issue of premises liability involved in this case, it is well established that a proprietor has a statutory duty to exercise ordinary care to keep its premises safe,⁵ which "includes inspecting the premises to discover possible dangerous conditions of which the [proprietor] does not have actual knowledge, and taking reasonable precautions to protect invitees from dangers foreseeable from the arrangement or use of the premises."⁶ But in order for a plaintiff to recover damages for injuries sustained in a premises-liability action, an invitee must prove "(1) that the defendant had actual or constructive knowledge of the hazard; and (2) that the plaintiff lacked knowledge of the hazard despite the exercise of ordinary care due to actions or conditions within the control of the owner/occupier."⁷ Consequently, in a premises-liability case, the mere fact that Sapp was injured, without more, "does not give rise to liability on the part of [River Place]."⁸ Rather, the true basis of a property owner's liability for an injury to its invitee is "the owner's superior knowledge of a condition that may expose the invitees to an unreasonable risk of harm. "⁹ We are, of course, mindful that in a premises-liability case, "issues of the defendant's negligence, the plaintiff's negligence, and the plaintiff's lack of ordinary care for his own safety are generally not susceptible of summary adjudication."¹⁰ Nevertheless, when, as here, "the evidence is plain, palpable, and undisputable the trial court can [and should] conclude that a party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law."¹¹

1. River Place contends that the trial court erred in concluding that genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether it had superior knowledge of the hazard allegedly caused by water leaking onto the floor of the break room from overhead pipes. We agree.

(a) Actual knowledge. A proprietor's knowledge of the danger "may be actual or constructive[.]"¹² And here, there is no evidence River Place had actual knowledge that water had accumulated on the floor of the break room or that the overhead pipes in the room leaked or otherwise dripped water onto the floor. Indeed, Sapp testified that she did not notice any water on the floor of the break room when—upon arriving to begin her work shift—she entered the room to place her lunch in the refrigerator. Jacqueline Haab also testified that, prior to the incident, no one—including Sapp or any other safety officer—ever informed her that water had accumulated on the floor or that the overhead pipes in the break room were leaking. Additionally, Sapp's supervisor, Begley, averred that in his twelve years as site supervisor for River Place, he never observed or was made aware of any water leaks in the break room.

Nevertheless, Sapp maintains that River Place had actual knowledge of the overhead pipes leaking water onto the break room floor, relying upon the testimony of the handyman, Eargle. In his deposition, Eargle testified that in his time working as a handyman at River Place, he never noticed overhead pipes "sweating," did not recall ever seeing water leaking onto the floor in the break room, and would have reported it to Begley if he had observed such a leak. But when pressed during his deposition by Sapp's counsel if he remembered telling Sapp's former counsel—apparently in an interview that was not transcribed or included in the record—that he had seen pipes sweating at some point in time, Eargle responded that he did not recall making such a statement but would not dispute any record to the contrary. And as a result of this testimony, Sapp claims that there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether River Place had actual knowledge of water accumulating on the floor of the break room. But this apocryphal evidence is far too speculative to raise an inference that River Place had actual knowledge of any such water leaks. Indeed, Eargle's testimony "raises a mere conjecture or possibility" and that is "not sufficient to create even an inference of fact for consideration on summary judgment."¹³ Given these circumstances, Sapp failed to present evidence that River Place had actual knowledge of pipes leaking water onto the floor of the break room.¹⁴

(b) Constructive knowledge. Under Georgia law, a plaintiff may demonstrate a proprietor's constructive knowledge of a hazard by showing:

(a) evidence that the hazardous condition lasted so long that it would have been discovered and removed if the proprietor had exercised reasonable care in inspecting the

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