Alisa Washington brought suit in the Civil Court of Bibb County against Willingham Loan & Realty Company “Willingham”, James A. Smith, and Briarwood Apartments, LLC “Briarwood” collectively, “the owners”, seeking to recover damages for injuries she sustained when she fell on a set of stairs at the Briarwood apartment complex.1 Contending there is no evidence that their alleged negligence caused Washington to fall, and, therefore, that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law on her claim, the owners appeal from an order by the trial court denying their motion for summary judgment, pursuant to this Court’s grant of their application for an interlocutory appeal. For the reasons explained below, we reverse. In order to prevail on a motion for summary judgment under OCGA § 9-11-56, the moving party must show that there exists no genuine issue of material fact, and that the undisputed facts, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, demand judgment as a matter of law. Moreover, on appeal from the denial or grant of summary judgment the appellate court is to conduct a de novo review of the evidence to determine whether there exists a genuine issue of material fact, and whether the undisputed facts, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, warrant judgment as a matter of law. Citation and punctuation omitted. Landings Assn., Inc. v. Williams , 309 Ga. App. 321, __ __SE2d__ 2011.
Viewed in a light most favorable to Washington as the nonmovant, the facts show that on December 17, 2005, Washington, while holding on to handrails with both hands, fell down the metal exterior staircase near her apartment at the Briarwood apartment complex. A witness who saw Washington fall deposed that, at the time she fell, he noticed an accumulation of ice on the stairs. However, this witness testified that he did not know whether the condition of the stairs caused Washington to fall. Washington deposed that she had previously complained to building management about the stairs that she described as “scary and dangerous” because of broken and loose steps. But when asked “whether or not the condition of the stairs caused her to fall,” Washington only replied, “It’s possible.” During her deposition, Washington was repeatedly unable to state what caused her to fall, saying at one point, “I don’t know what caused me to fall.”
