St. Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta, Inc. v. Gardner Sewell Hall et al.

The trial court erred in denying hospital's motion to dismiss plaintiff's slip and fall suit arising after he fell on black ice in the parking lot, because there were no questions of fact remaining as to whether the hospital had superior knowledge of the patch of black ice on which plaintiff fell or whether its remedial efforts to clear the parking deck of snow and ice contributed to the icy conditions.

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Rickman, Judge.Gardner Sewell Hall brought a negligence action against St. Joseph’s Hospital of Atlanta, Inc. to recover for personal injuries he sustained when he fell in the hospital’s visitor parking deck; his wife asserted a claim for loss of consortium. St. Joseph’s appeals from the trial court’s order denying its motion for summary judgment.^{^[1]} For reasons that follow, we reverse.

“A de novo standard of review applies to an appeal from a grant or denial 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.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.) El Ranchero Mexican Restaurant v. Hiner, 316 Ga. App. 115, 116, n.1 (728 SE2d 761) (2012).Viewed in the light most favorable to Hall, the evidence shows that during the week of February 10, 2014, Atlanta was hit with an ice storm. Hall’s wife had a colonoscopy scheduled for February 14, 2014, and Hall called her doctor the night before or early that morning to confirm that the doctor would be there. The morning of February 14, Hall drove his wife to St. Joseph’s and let her out in front of the hospital’s main lobby. Hall then drove to the east visitor parking deck, where he had been many times before, entering the deck at approximately 8:45 a.m. Hall drove into the deck on a lower, covered level, and proceeded to the upper, uncovered level, where he parked between two cars. He was not aware of any ice on the pavement of the parking deck as he drove into the deck, but deposed, “[t]hat’s not to say there was none there.” When Hall opened his car door, he did not look for ice or snow before exiting his car, and took approximately three steps before falling on invisible or black ice. He did not see the ice before he fell. Hall sustained injuries to his elbow and shoulder from the fall.

St. Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta, Inc. v. Gardner Sewell Hall et al.

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