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Jackson v. Waffle House Inc.

The plaintiff's admission that she knew of the uneven condition of the defendant's parking lot which she had used on numerous occasions did not resolve the issue of whether she exercised ordinary care when she fell in an area she had not previously traversed.

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Plaintiff Lois Donigan Jackson sued Waffle House, Inc. for personal injuries sustained when she tripped and fell in the parking lot of defendant’s restaurant. Waffle House moved for summary judgment, because Jackson admitted she was “well aware of the rough and uneven condition of the parking lot;” and because she further admitted that she would have noticed the uneven pavement, had she been looking. The trial court granted defendant’s motion, concluding that Jackson was aware of any hazard created by the condition of the parking lot and failed, as a matter of law, to exercise the proper amount of caution in traversing the parking lot. Because it remains for a jury to determine whether plaintiff exercised ordinary care in this instance to avoid any hazard posed by the irregular surface of the parking lot, we reverse.

Viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiff as the nonmovant,1 the evidence revealed that on most every Friday since at least 1988, Jackson met her son and granddaughter at this Waffle House around noon for lunch. On rainless March 29, 1996, the 74-year-old Jackson drove her car to this Waffle House and entered without incident, although in Jackson’s opinion, this parking lot was in terrible condition. Specifically, the parking lot was not very level but was slanting and sloped, and was not comfortable to walk on. When asked whether the parking lot had holes in it, plaintiff responded, “It was awfully rough,” meaning the entire parking lot needed repairs.

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