Tolbert v. Tanner

• Decision Date: 08 September 1986
• Docket Number: No. 72459,72459
• Citation: 180 Ga.App. 441,349 S.E.2d 463
• Parties: TOLBERT v. TANNER et al.
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

Page 463

349 S.E.2d 463

180 Ga.App. 441

TOLBERT v. TANNER et al.

No. 72459.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Sept. 8, 1986.

Rehearing Denied Oct. 1, 1986.

Certiorari Denied Nov. 26, 1986.

Lester B. Johnson, Brunswick, for appellant.

Michael J. Bowers, Atty. Gen., Michael E. Hobbs, Sr. Asst. Atty. Gen., Isaac Byrd, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellees.

SOGNIER, Judge.

Linda Tolbert brought suit against numerous defendants for injuries she incurred as the result of a physical assault by Anthony Brown, a convicted criminal. Summary judgment was granted to certain defendants and affirmed by this court in Tolbert v. Captain Joe's Seafood, 170 Ga.App. 26, 316 S.E.2d 11 (1984). Tolbert now appeals from the grant of summary judgment to Joe Tanner, Leon Kirkland, Bobby Howard, Butch Hutchison, Arthur Ruger and Willie Hewitt, employees of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Anthony Brown was an inmate trusty assigned by the Georgia Department of Corrections (formerly Department of Offender Rehabilitation) (DOC) to work at DNR's Waycross Law Enforcement Office (Waycross office). DNR agreed to accept Brown on the basis that he had been classified as a trusty by DOC. Trusty status, which is a security classification for inmates, is defined by Rules of Board of Corrections Rule 125-3-1-.02(5)(e) (former Rule 415-3-1-.02(5)(e), formerly Rule 125-2-4-.02(4)(e)) as follows: "An inmate assigned to this category must have proven himself ... clearly trustworthy, having no adjustment problems; be fully cooperative, and have no current alcohol or drug addiction problems. Such inmates require occasional checks by correctional officers both inside and outside the security boundaries of the institution...." Brown was checked regularly on at least an hourly basis by DNR employees at the Waycross office. Although he received some specific work assignments from DNR employees, Brown's general duties involved janitorial tasks. Brown was given discretion to determine what needed to be done to keep the office clean and, in order to perform his duties, he had access to the entire compound of the Waycross office.

Appellant was accosted by Brown as she exited a restaurant located near the Waycross office. Brown had departed the Waycross office without authorization moments after he had been checked by a DNR employee. Brown took with him a pistol that had been left in an unlocked drawer in an office to which Brown had authorized access. Brown used this pistol to force appellant into her vehicle, drove her into a wooded area behind the restaurant parking lot then robbed and raped her.

1. Initially, we affirm the trial court's grant of summary judgment as to appellee Hewitt. It is undisputed that Hewitt, stationed in DNR's Bowens Mill, Georgia, office, had no work responsibilities originating in the Waycross office, was not supervised by anyone in the Waycross office, and received no work assignments from that office. The facts are uncontroverted that Hewitt's presence on the premises of the Waycross office on the day of the incident complained of was mere fortuity and that his sole contact with Brown consisted of Brown helping Hewitt park a truck in the parking lot at the Waycross office. No questions of fact appear in the record to indicate that he could have been negligent in any of the respects alleged by appellee. Thus, summary judgment as to this appellee was appropriate. OCGA § 9-11-56(c). See generally Houser v. Tilden Fin. Corp., 166 Ga.App. 710, 711, 305 S.E.2d 440 (1983).

2. Appellant contends that questions of fact exist whether the remaining appellees acted negligently by approving the hiring of Brown and by failing to properly supervise Brown. Appellant also alleges that appellees acted negligently in failing to exercise due care for her safety by leaving a dangerous weapon, easily accessible to Brown, in an unlocked drawer in the Waycross office. "To state a cause of action for negligence in Georgia, the following elements are essential: '(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 flowing to the plaintiff's legally protected interest as a result of the alleged breach of the legal duty.' [Cit.]" Bradley Center v. Wessner, 250 Ga. 199, 200, 296 S.E.2d 693 (1982). Appellees owed a duty to appellant not to subject her to an unreasonable risk of harm. Id. at 201, 296 S.E.2d 693. See also Sutter v. Hutchings, 254 Ga. 194, 197(1), 327 S.E.2d 716 (1985). In order to recover against appellees, appellant was required to show that appellees failed "to do something which a reasonable man, guided by those considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of human affairs, would do; that is, [that appellees failed] to do an act which ought to be done, or ... to perform properly what [appellees undertook] to perform. [Cits.]" Johnson v. Landing, 157 Ga.App. 313, 315-316(1), 277 S.E.2d 307 (1981).

(a) We find no error in the trial court's grant of appellees' motion for summary judgment as to appellant's allegations that appellees acted negligently by hiring and/or supervising Brown. The evidence reveals that Howard, captain of the Game and Fish Division of DNR, accepted DOC's offer that an inmate trusty be placed in the Waycross office to perform public services. It is uncontroverted that none of the appellees selected Brown as the specific inmate trusty to work in the Waycross office but, instead, relied on DOC's selection of Brown. Thus, no questions of fact exist as to appellees' alleged negligence in "hiring" Brown. See generally Parson v. Central of Ga. R. Co., 129 Ga.App. 218, 219(1)(2), 199 S.E.2d 396 (1973); Ferrell v. Haas, 136 Ga.App. 274, 278, 220 S.E.2d 771 (1975). Next, appellees accepted Brown pursuant to DOC Rule 125-3-1-.02(5)(e) which did not require constant supervision, but recommended only "occasional checks" of inmate trusties. It is uncontroverted that Brown was checked on at least an hourly basis and frequently more often than that. Brown's testimony reveals that he deliberately waited until after he had been checked by a DNR employee before departing the Waycross office without authorization and assaulting appellant. Thus, there is no evidence that any of appellees failed to act as a reasonable man would in order not to subject appellant to an unreasonable risk of harm by their supervision of Brown. See Johnson, supra. Therefore, appellees have negated that essential element required in order for appellant to prevail on this issue, and the trial court did not err by granting summary judgment in favor of appellees on appellant's claim of negligent supervision. See generally Smith v. Federated Dept. Stores, 165 Ga.App. 459, 460-461, 301 S.E.2d 652 (1983).

(b) We agree with appellant that questions of fact exist whether appellees acted negligently by failing to exercise due care for appellant's safety by allowing a gun to remain in the Waycross office in a place...