Amy Phillips, individually and as next friend of her three minor children, M. P., J. P., and A. P., appeals the summary judgment entered against her on her claim of negligent infliction of emotional distress against an apartment complex, Marquis at Mt. Zion “Marquis”, its management company, Steven D. Bell & Co., and three of their employees arising out of an incident that occurred with Phillips’s former boyfriend, Titus Walker. We affirm. To prevail at summary judgment under OCGA § 9-11-56, the moving party must demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the undisputed facts, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, warrant judgment as a matter of law. A defendant may do this by showing the court that the documents, affidavits, depositions and other evidence in the record reveal that there is no evidence sufficient to create a jury issue on at least one essential element of plaintiff’s case.1 Properly viewed, the record shows that Phillips and her children moved into an apartment at the Marquis in July 2006. Walker, who was the father of Phillips’s daughter, A. P., resided in the complex and also worked for his brother’s business, Carpet Care Connections, cleaning the carpets in the apartments, both occupied and vacant. Phillips deposed that although she and Walker had ended their romantic relationship, they remained friends, and he was a father figure to her boys, M. P. and J. P. Walker’s demeanor changed when he discovered that Phillips had a new boyfriend. Walker began to harass Phillips. She deposed that he knocked on her door, “hour after hour,” followed her in his car, showed up at her job, and snatched her daughter. On one occasion, he blocked Phillips’s car with his van and stood outside the window of her apartment, yelling obscenities at her. She called the assistant manager, Kemi Orgaumni, who told Walker to move his vehicle. Phillips was aware that Walker had access to occupied apartments, and she informed Orgaumni that if Walker needed to enter her apartment, she wanted to be notified first.
After the incident with her car, Phillips stayed with her boyfriend. Her children were in Florida. When the children returned in preparation for school, Phillips spent the night in the apartment with them. When she awoke the next morning, on August 28, 2006, Phillips discovered that someone had taken her car keys, wallet, and cell phone and had placed sugar in the gas tank of her car. Phillips knew that she had turned on her security alarm and that no one could enter her apartment without setting off the alarm unless that person knew the code. She confronted Walker, who admitted getting the key to her apartment from the office, entering her apartment, and vandalizing her car.
