Jordan v. Bennett

We granted an interlocutory appeal to Jacob Jordan to consider whether the Superior Court of Glynn County erred in denying his motion for summary judgment in this premises liability suit brought by Patsy Jo Bennett,1 a social guest who was injured during a party at Jordan’s home. Because there is no evidence that Jordan breached his duty of care to Bennett, we reverse. Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. On appeal from the grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment, we review the evidence de novo, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from the evidence are construed in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Citations, punctuation, and footnotes omitted. Jones v. Barrow , 304 Ga. App. 337 696 SE2d 363 2010. So viewed, the record reveals the following relevant facts. On September 20, 2008, Bennett attended a party at Jordan’s home to watch a football game. She had been to Jordan’s home three times before. That evening, after consuming five beers and two “lemon drop” cocktails, she went out onto a balcony off the kitchen to smoke a cigarette and to drink another beer with her friend, Paulette Williams, who was also Jordan’s roommate. They sat in chairs facing the balcony railing and the backyard. After being on the balcony for about 15 minutes, Bennett walked to the balcony’s edge to toss her cigarette into the backyard. As she tossed the cigarette, she turned to talk to Williams, and then she fell over the railings of the balcony and onto the concrete sidewalk 16 feet below, where she sustained serious injuries.

Bennett does not know what caused her to fall, though she speculates that she lost her balance. She deposed that she was unaware that she was on an elevated balcony; rather, she believed that she was on a ground-level patio. However, in a recorded statement given to an insurance adjuster, Bennett, during an inquiry into what caused her fall, stated: “I just remember kinda I looked over and I said ‘God this deck is really high up.’ That kinda freaked me out a little bit.” In her recorded statement, Bennett said that Jordan had done nothing to cause the “freak accident,” but that the fault was with the balcony’s railing, which she believed was not “up to code.”