Shepherd v. Whigham, 41045
| Decision Date | 09 March 1965 |
| Docket Number | No. 41045,No. 3,41045,3 |
| Parties | J. B. SHEPHERD v. J. A. WHIGHAM |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Syllabus by the Court
1. One who is on the premises of another at the latter's request and for the sole benefit of the latter, is an invitee to whom the latter owes the duty of exercising ordinary care to avoid injuring.
2. (a) It is essential in order to maintain an action based on negligence that there be pleaded and proved the following elements: (1) a legal duty to conform to a standard of conduct raised by the law for the protection of others against unreasonable risks of harm; (2) a breach of this standard; (3) a legally attributable causal connection between the conduct and the resulting injury; and (4) some loss or damage flowong to the plaintiff's legally protected interest as a result of the alleged breach of the legal duty.
(b) It is proper for a trial court to grant a motion for summary judgment where the evidence before the court negates any one or more of the essential elements required in a negligence action.
The plaintiff sued the defendant for negligently causing the plaintiff to be injured. The injury was inflicted when a portion of the bottom rung of a ladder on which plaintiff was standing 'peeled off with the grain of the wood' causing plaintiff to fall. The defendant furnished the ladder for use in the installing of an attic fan in detendant's home.
The defendant filed a motion for summary judgment on the hearing of which the following evidence was presented: The ladder had been owned by the defendant for a number of years and used by him from time to time without any defect having been noticed by him. The ladder was new when defendant acquired it. The ladder had been stored inside when not in use and had not been exposed to the deteriorating effect of the elements. The defendant had not noticed any defect in the ladder that day although he had not minutely inspected it. The defendant himself had used the ladder a number of times that day. Before his injury, the plaintiff had used the ladder safely having gone up and down it for 'more than four tiems' and in so doing had placed his feet on each of the rungs. The plaintiff did not see anything wrong with the ladder. The bottom rung or step of the ladder was approximately three inches wide. The back 1/3 of the bottom rung 'just gave way' and 'peeled off along the grain of the wood' while plaintiff The plaintiff, at the time, weighed approximately 250 pounds.
The trial court granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment and entered judgment for the defendant. It is to that judgment that plaintiff excepts.
John E. Sacker, Jr., Atlanta, for plaintiff in error.
T. J. Long, Ben Weinberg, Jr., Atlanta, for defendant in error.
1. The plaintiff who came at a friend's invitation to assist in the installing of an attic fan in his friend's house, and who while engaged in the work was injured, was an invitee. He was not to be rewarded by pay for his work. He was not there for his own pleasure and convenience. He was there for the sole benefit of his friend, the defendant. See Wright v. Lail, 105 Ga.App. 261, 263, 124 S.E.2d 487. The defendant owed the plaintiff the duty of exercising ordinary care to avoid injuring him.
2. In order to plead a cause of action based upon negligence it is essential that the petition allege facts which embrace each of the following elements: (1) A legal duty to conform to a standard of...
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