After Thomas Weston’s wife, Janet, died in a vehicular accident, Weston brought this wrongful death action in the PlaceTypeplacePlaceTypeStatePlaceTypeCourtPlaceNameofPlaceNameGlynnPlaceTypeCountyagainst Yancey Brothers, Inc. “Yancey”, Douglas Electrical and Plumbing Company “Douglas”, Dewey Harper, Dun Transportation & Stringer, Inc. “Dun”, and Dale Montes.1 After a hearing, the trial court granted the appellees’ motions for summary judgment. Weston appeals, contending material questions of fact remain that preclude summary judgment. For the reasons explained below, we affirm. On a motion for summary judgment under OCGA § 9-11-56, the defendant, as the moving party, may prevail by “piercing the plaintiff’s pleadings,” i.e., demonstrating that the plaintiff will be unable to prevail at trial, even when all doubts are resolved in favor of the plaintiff, because there is no issue of material fact as to at least one essential element of the plaintiff’s prima facie case. Citations omitted. Garrett v. NationsBank , 228 StateplaceGa.App. 114, 115 491 SE2d 158 1997. In the alternative, the defendant may prevail
by presenting evidence which establishes a prima facie affirmative defense. In so doing, the defendant, as the moving party seeking summary judgment, may not rely on inferences from the evidence presented, because: 1 the defendant would have such burden of proof at trial; and 2 the allocation of favorable inferences between the parties is a jury question. Once the defendant satisfies its burden of proof by presenting evidence to support each element of the affirmative defense, the same burden of proof it would have at trial, the burden of production of evidence shifts to the plaintiff, who will survive summary judgment in the same fashion that she would survive a motion for directed verdict at trial, i.e., by presenting any evidence which creates a jury issue on an element of the affirmative defense. However, if the plaintiff is unable to meet this burden of production, the defendant is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. Citations omitted; emphasis in original. StateplaceId.at 116.
