Edward Carpenter appeals from the trial court’s grant of the Capital City Club’s motion for summary judgment on Carpenter’s claim for damages after he was injured while repairing carpet on the Club’s premises. The trial court, in a thorough and well-reasoned order, held that there was no evidence of the Club’s superior knowledge of any defect in the carpet that would cause Carpenter’s equipment to malfunction and injure him. We agree and affirm. To prevail at summary judgment under O.C.G.A. § 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. O.C.G.A. § 9-11-56 c. 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. If there is no evidence sufficient to create a genuine issue as to any essential element of plaintiff’s claim, that claim tumbles like a house of cards. All of the other disputes of fact are rendered immaterial. A defendant who will not bear the burden of proof at trial need not affirmatively disprove the nonmoving party’s case; instead, the burden on the moving party may be discharged by pointing out by reference to the affidavits, depositions and other documents in the record that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party’s case. If the moving party discharges this burden, the nonmoving party cannot rest on its pleadings, but rather must point to specific evidence giving rise to a triable issue. O.C.G.A. § 9-11-56 e. Lau’s Corp. v. Haskins , 261 Ga. 491, 491 405 SE2d 474 1991. The undisputed facts are that Carpenter worked “off and on” doing carpet installation and repair for All Shores Flooring. On the day of the accident, Carpenter went by All Shores and asked if they had any work for him. All Shores sent Carpenter to the Capital City Club’s Brookhaven location to repair the carpeting. Carpenter said that when he began his repairs, “the carpet was up in the air in the doorway, it was a trip hazard. So I had to put it back into place so nobody would get hurt. . . .” Carpenter stated in his complaint that in order to do the required repairs, he had to “kneel down on the floor and use a device known in the industry as a ‘kicker.’ “As he attempted to repair the carpet with the kicker, because of the deterioration of the carpeting, the padding, and the underlying structure, he lost his balance while kneeling on the floor and sustained an injury to his back and leg.”
In his deposition, Carpenter stated that he did not know why the carpet ripped when he used the kicker on it. “How it ripped, I don’t —I just don’t, really don’t know how it really happened, how it ripped. It could have been a defect from the company when the carpet —the way it was made, or it could have been water from it coming in the doorway and it drying up and —because the carpet, it was —when they first installed the carpet, it was down right.”
