Two-year-old Keldra Hicks was injured when a deck attached to the rear of the home she was visiting collapsed as she sat next to the deck’s support posts. Her mother, Angela Hicks, sued the homeowners, John and Ernestine Walker, on behalf of her daughter and herself based on the Walkers’ alleged failure to exercise reasonable care to make their premises safe. Specifically, the Hickses alleged that the Walkers were negligent because they failed to maintain the deck or to correct the defective condition of the deck, failed to warn them of the dangerous condition of the deck, failed to obtain a required building permit, failed to have the deck inspected for safety, and failed to meet the minimum standards required for decks under Georgia law. The Walkers moved for summary judgment asserting that they had no knowledge that the deck was unsafe, inasmuch as they had not noticed any problems with it. They argued that they could not be held liable because their conduct was not wilful or wanton. Finding that the Walkers’ conduct toward their licensees was not wilful or wanton, and that the parties had equal knowledge of the dangerous condition, the trial court granted the Walkers’ motion for summary judgment. We reverse. Upon the appeal of a grant of summary judgment, this Court reviews the case de novo to determine whether any genuine issue of material fact exists for resolution by a jury.1 Summary judgment is proper where the moving party is able to show that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that the movant is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law.2 A defendant meets this burden by showing 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 the plaintiff’s case.3
Viewed in a light most favorable to the Hickses as nonmovants,4 the evidence reveals that the Hickses went to the home of Angela Hicks’ parents, the Walkers, to attend a family cookout. The family was cooking food on a barrel-type grill on the deck. The Walkers’ son had built the deck for his parents about six to twelve months earlier.
