Drayton v. The Kroger Co.

An approach to a grocery store includes the ' "sidewalk immediately in front of and adjacent to the premises . . ., but it does not include the landlord owned and maintained parking lot adjacent to the sidewalk." '

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After Edwin Rodriguez robbed and assaulted Mildred Drayton in the parking lot of the Banks Crossing Shopping Center in Fayetteville, Drayton and her husband sued The Kroger Company, which operated the store in which she had been shopping, and A.B./Banks Crossing, Limited Partnership “Banks Crossing”, which owned the shopping center and parking lot. The trial court granted summary judgment to both defendants, finding that Kroger owed no duty of care to Mrs. Drayton pursuant to OCGA § 51-3-1 because the attack did not occur on its premises or approaches, and that Banks Crossing owed no duty to prevent the assault because no evidence showed the attack was foreseeable. The Draytons appeal, but we find no error and affirm. Summary judgment is proper when no issue of material fact remains and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Defendants may prevail on summary judgment “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 A de novo standard of review applies to an appeal from a grant of summary judgment, and we review the evidence, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from it, in the light most favorable to the non-movant.2

So viewed, the record shows that at approximately 3:00 p.m. on July 5, 2004, Drayton parked her car in the Banks Crossing Shopping Center parking lot in the space closest to the front entrance of the Kroger grocery store. As she approached the store, she noticed a man, later identified as Rodriguez, sitting on the patio furniture on display outside the store entrance.

Drayton v. The Kroger Co.

An approach to a grocery store includes the ' "sidewalk immediately in front of and adjacent to the premises . . ., but it does not include the landlord owned and maintained parking lot adjacent to the sidewalk." '

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