W. T. Grant Co. v. Phillips

• Decision Date: 14 November 1967
• Docket Number: No. 1,No. 43171,43171,1
• Citation: 116 Ga.App. 650,158 S.E.2d 312
• Parties: W. T. GRANT COMPANY v. Sallie M. PHILLIPS
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

Page 312

158 S.E.2d 312

116 Ga.App. 650

W. T. GRANT COMPANY v. Sallie M. PHILLIPS.

No. 43171.

Court of Appeals of Georgia, Division No. 1.

Nov. 14, 1967.

Syllabus by the Court

Where it appears on motion for summary judgment that plaintiff fell on steps that were well constructed, clean, and free of any foreign substance, had handrails down each side with another in the middle, were well lighted and had abrasive or safety tread inserts inlaid in them, and plaintiff made no claim of defect in the steps beyond an assertion that there was a 'slick spot' on them which caused her to fall, no negligence appeared on the part of the defendant and it was error to deny the motion.

Mrs. Sallie Mae Phillips seeks to recover damages of W. T. Grant Company for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained from a fall when she descended the steps of its store leading from the ground floor to the basement department of its store for the purpose of purchasing goods. She alleges that as she stepped from a landing (two steps above the basement floor) onto the first of the last two steps before reaching the basement floor she stepped 'upon a slick place on the step which was not apparent or visible to her and which she could not have reasonable (sic) foreseen,' whereupon her right foot slipped from under her, throwing her to the floor and bringing about an injury to her left knee, arm and shoulder. She also alleges that another lady had fallen at the same spot only a week earlier. Negligence is charged in the failure of the defendant to ascertain the condition of the steps and to remedy it so that it might safely be used in failing to provide immediate assistance to her and procure transportation for her to the hospital, thus aggravating her injury. General demurrers to the petition were overruled.

Plaintiff's deposition was taken by the defendant, in which she testified relative to her descent of the steps: 'I went down there to buy some drapes * * * I took hold of the railing and I walked step by step and when I got to the third step there, I just slipped * * * down I went and fell on my right ankle and right side * * * a colored girl who picked me up said that a lady fell right in the very identical way the other day, last week * * * I had ordinary low heel shoes on, the kind I wear to work all the time. * * * No, my shoe didn't come off. I just slipped and my ankle turned and I fell * * *. As to what caused me to slip, I can only tell you that there was a slick place there on the step. * * * There wasn't no trash there or nothing on it. It was just slick steps. The step was not different from the others, it was just a slick place on it * * * I know it was slick. There was a slick spot on that step, just a slick spot on the step * * *. There was no water or anything on the steps-just a slick place. The edge of the step was not slanting-just a slick place. It did not have an abrasive material on the edge of a different color from the body of the step * * *. A lady in the store told me to go to the hospital and that she would call a doctor there to see me. I asked them how I was going but they didn't offer me a ride * * * and I walked to the hospital, where they sent me to the emergency room and put a bandage on my knee. No doctor saw me. After that I just doctored it myself, and afterward Dr. Rawls treated me for my knee and a strained pelvis. When I started down the steps I took hold of the railing and held down. I was looking where I was going and I didn't see anything. My foot went forward, I slipped * * *. I didn't notice any slickness on the other steps as I went down. * * * I had a bag of popcorn in my arms-I had been eating it, but not then. I had the popcorn in my arm with my pocketbook. That was all I had. I was holding to the hand railing when I fell.'

Depositions of Mrs. Vernedia Bozeman, assistant manager of the store, Mrs. Lillian Wheeler, a clerk in the store, Clara Clark, a clerk in the basement, and Elijah Clark, the janitor and cleaing man, were also obtained.

Mrs. Bozeman testified that she went to the basement right after the occurrence, saw Mrs. Phillips and learned that she had slipped on a step and fallen and that her shoe had come off when she fell. She looked at the steps where Mrs. Phillips had fallen and found them to be clean-rubbed her hand over the step and found nothing more than a little dust on it. The steps have a tread built into the tile that is darker than the rest of the step and is rougher so that one will not slip on it. Another woman, 74 years old, had fallen on the steps a week before, but that was because she missed a step-misstepped-not because of any defect in the steps or because of anything on them. She observed Mrs. Phillips' shoes, clothing, bundles, etc., for the purpose of making a report to the store management on it, and found that her shoes were 'awful run down and the heels were over in the back * * * and were very loose.' One of her shoes was off-it had come off when she fell. The steps are of regular width. The rough part of the tread is set in about two inches from the front.

Mrs. Wheeler testified that she was to the left of the steps when Mrs. Phillips fell-some 8 or 9 feet away, and that she immediately went to assist her. Mrs. Phillips was 'grapping for her shoe that had fell off in her falling. She had kicked her shoe. It was loose and it was flat * * * it had slung off and she was reaching to get...