Vaissiere v. J. B. Pound Hotel Co.

• Citation: 190 S.E. 354,184 Ga. 72
• Decision Date: 09 February 1937
• Docket Number: 11559.
• Parties: VAISSIERE v. J. B. POUND HOTEL CO.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

190 S.E. 354

184 Ga. 72

VAISSIERE v. J. B. POUND HOTEL CO.

No. 11559.

Supreme Court of Georgia

February 9, 1937

Rehearing Denied March 11, 1937.

Certiorari from Court of Appeals.

Suit by G. H. Vaissiere against the J. B. Pound Hotel Company. To review a judgment of the Court of Appeals (187 S.E. 279) reversing a judgment overruling a general demurrer to the petition, the plaintiff brings certiorari.

Judgment of the Court of Appeals affirmed.

Gazan, Walsh & Bernstein, of Savannah, for plaintiff in error.

Hitch Denmark & Lovett and R. W. McDuffee, all of Savannah, for defendant in error.

Syllabus OPINION.

ATKINSON Justice.

A banquet was held in the dining room of a hotel. A temporary rostrum had been constructed for the occasion, about 12 inches above the floor. The rostrum extended to within about 2 1/2 feet from the wall, thus leaving a vacant space. A table was placed on the rostrum, and seats were placed for guests at the table so that their backs would be towards and near the edge of the rostrum. When the banquet was over, two guests occupying adjacent seats arose, and one of them, being compelled to step back slightly in order to avoid striking the other, stepped on the edge of the rostrum and fell, from which she sustained injury. In a suit for damages, the petition, as amended, gave the foregoing account, and alleged that the petitioner had not had occasion to examine the rostrum minutely and did not know that the rostrum did not extend all the way to the wall, nor did she see or know that she was seated near the edge of the rostrum. It was alleged that the defendant was negligent in failing (a) to provide a reasonably safe place for use as a guest at the banquet; (b) to extend the rostrum all the way to the wall; (c) to put a rope, banister, or other protection around the edge of the rostrum; (d) to warn petitioner of the dangerous position where she was seated with her back close to the edge of the rostrum; (e) to warn petitioner before she arose from the table of the danger of stepping on the edge of the rostrum and (f) in placing the chair of petitioner so close to the edge of the rostrum that when she arose therefrom she naturally stepped upon the edge of the rostrum and fell. Held:

1. The allegations did not allege a case showing negligence of defendant. Executive Committee of the Baptist Convention v. Wardlaw, 180 Ga. 148, 178 S.E. 55, and dissenting opinion in Wardlaw v. Executive Committee of the Baptist Convention, 47 Ga.App. 595, 170 S.E. 830.

2. The allegations showed that the plaintiff was obliged to step up to get on the rostrum. Construing the petition most strongly against the plaintiff, and there being no allegation that the room was not properly lighted, it will be assumed that the open space...