43 Ga. App. 825 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1931
Mrs. Sally Roberts sued Hatfield Brothers for damages for alleged personal injuries sustained from an accidental fall in the entrance to the mercantile establishment conducted by the defendants in Rome, Georgia.
The petition, after describing the entrance way to the storeroom, alleges: “Said entrance passageway, or vestibule, into said store.room was so constructed and maintained as to be unsafe, in that said slope or decline of said passageway was so pronounced, and the surface thereof being smooth and slick cement, said passageway, especially when wet and damp, and when trash accumulated thereon, became slippery and unsafe for the use of customers entering in and out of said store.” Following this are averments to the effect that the plaintiff entered the store for the purpose of making a purchase, and, as she came out of the storeroom, she stepped upon a small piece of banana peeling, slipped and fell, and sustained certain injuries, causing great pain and suffering, and alleged to be permanent in character. The petition then charges: “That her said injuries were due to the carelessness and negligence of the defendants, the said Hatfield Brothers, in that they failed to furnish a safe place in which to conduct their business, in that: (а) The entrance passageway, or vestibule, to said store was negligently constructed and maintained in that the elevation of the slope from the front door to the sidewalk line was too pronounced to make the same safe to walk upon, especially when slippery, foreign substances were allowed to accumulate thereon. (б) The surface of said entrance, passageway, or vestibule was of such material as to be slick and unsafe to walk upon, and said surface was not properly scarred or roughened so as to prevent persons walking thereon from slipping and falling as petitioner did, especially when slippery, foreign substances were allowed to accumulate thereon, (c) Said defendants permitted trash, such as banana peelings and other slippery substances, to accumulate in said entrance passageway, or vestibule, and to remain therein, and with full knowledge and notice that the same were there, and that persons passing over the same were liable to slip and fall, as petitioner did. (d) The condition of the particular piece of banana peeling on which petitioner slipped and fell showed that the same had been in said entrance way, or vestibule, for days, or
A general demurrer to the petition was overruled, and the defendants excepted.
The facts alleged in the petition, or the necessary inferences therefrom, show that there was a slope from the front door to the sidewalk; that the elevation of the front door and of the floor of the storeroom was some eight or ten inches higher than the elevation of the sidewalk; that the surface of said entrance was slick; that it was pot scarred or roughened; that the day was cloudy, and the entrance was not lighted; and that the defendant had permitted a banana peeling to remain in said entrance for ah unreasonable length of time, which gave or should have given the defendant knowledge of its presence. These and other allegations of fact are sufficient to show a cause of action and to withstand a general demurrer.
We are not in accord with the view of counsel for the plaintiffs in error that this case is controlled by the decision of this court in Castleberry v. Fox, 29 Ga. App. 35 (113 S. E. 110). In that case the allegations of the petition were sufficient to go to the jury, and the defendant prevailed, not because of plaintiffs insufficient allegations, but because of his failure to prove such allegations. Furthermore, in that case the defendant, a proprietor and owner of a hotel, was not on the same floor as was the banana peeling,
The petition set out a causé of action, and the trial court committed no reversible error in overruling the general demurrer.
Judgment affirmed.