Cook v. Micro Craft Inc.

A employer was not liable for its employee's death after her estranged husband attacked her with a knife at her workplace, since there was no evidence that the employer knew the husband had threatened to kill her that day.

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This premises liability case arises from the brutal murder of Anna Marie Cook Jackson hereinafter, the decedent by her estranged husband, Willie Charles Jackson. The attack which killed the decedent also resulted in the serious injury of the her aunt, Mary Faircloth. Gloria Cook, on behalf of the decedent’s estate, and Faircloth sued the decedent’s employer, Micro Craft, Inc., alleging that Faircloth and the decedent would not have been injured absent the company’s negligence. Both Cook and Faircloth appeal from the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to the company. Finding no error, we affirm. Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact as to any essential element of a claim, since all other contested issues are rendered immaterial and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. OCGA § 9-11-56 c; Lau’s Corp. v. Haskins , 261 Ga. 491 405 SE2d 474 1991; Britt v. Kelly & Picerne , 258 Ga. App. 843 575 SE2d 732 2002. We apply a de novo standard of review to an appeal from a grant of summary judgment, and we view the evidence, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from it, in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Matjoulis v. Integon Gen. Ins. Corp. , 226 Ga. App. 459 486 SE2d 685 1997.

Viewed in this light, the evidence showed that, in April 1997, Jackson was arrested for sexually assaulting the decedent. After Jackson was released from jail, the decedent obtained a restraining order against him because she was “terrified” that he might kill her. The decedent moved in with her aunt, Mary Faircloth, so Jackson would not know where she lived. Faircloth knew that Jackson had seriously abused the decedent in the past and had recently sent threatening letters to the decedent, including one that had the following warning on the envelope: “You can run but you cannot hide.”

Cook v. Micro Craft Inc.

A employer was not liable for its employee's death after her estranged husband attacked her with a knife at her workplace, since there was no evidence that the employer knew the husband had threatened to kill her that day.

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