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Wright v. Pine Hills Country Club Inc.

The plaintiff presented no expert testimony contradicting the defendants' evidence that a newspaper reporter was not noticeably intoxicated when the defendants served her alcohol.

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After consuming red wine at the Crisp County Watermelon Festival gala event located at Pine Hills Country Club, newspaper reporter Michele Yawn attempted to drive home. On her way, she inexplicably stopped on a state highway facing oncoming traffic and turned off her lights. A car driven by Heather Katrina Wright collided with Yawn’s car, killing Yawn and seriously injuring Wright. Wright brought suit against various parties, and she now appeals the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the county club and Yawn’s employer. Construed in favor of Wright, the facts show that on July 6, 1999, Yawn was a reporter for the Americus Times-Recorder, which, together with The Cordele Dispatch, was owned by Thomson Newspapers, Inc. On the evening of July 6, Yawn was not on duty or assigned to work at the festival, rather she went to the event on her own time. Tony Britt, a reporter for the Cordele Dispatch, was assigned to cover the event. When he arrived and saw that Yawn happened to be there with a camera, the two agreed that she would assume responsibility for the event for the two sister newspapers; Britt then left.

The event was staffed by volunteers. One volunteer bartender averred that she served Yawn two, six-ounce glasses of red wine in the early part of the event, which ran from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. That bartender and a second bartender both averred that they did not see Yawn visibly intoxicated during the event and that they did not know that Yawn would be operating a motor vehicle when she left. Both bartenders left the premises at 10:30 p.m.

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