Summary Judgment Affirmed on Appeal
4/13/2023The Court of Appeals of Georgia affirmed the grant of summary judgment obtained at the trial court level by Spencer Bomar and Trisha Godsey.
The plaintiff in this premises liability case alleged that a medical practice failed to exercise ordinary care to protect her from a hazardous condition, a chair alleged to be defective, in its waiting room. The chair broke when the plaintiff sat down in it to wait for her appointment, and she claimed back injuries requiring surgery from her fall to the floor. The medical practice moved for summary judgment on the grounds that it lacked actual or constructive knowledge of any hazard or defect with the chair. The medical practice argued, and the Court of Appeals agreed, that there were no prior incidents or complaints involving the waiting room chairs, there was no evidence establishing how the chair at issue was defective, if at all, there was no evidence regarding how long the alleged defect had existed, and there was no evidence that any defect, alleged to exist, would be discoverable during a visual inspection.