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Handy v. DeKalb Med. Ctr. Inc.

The plaintiff failed to establish an agency relationship between the hospital and three guards, who allegedly attempted to take her wheelchair near the entrance to the hospital parking deck.

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Irene M. Handy sued DeKalb Medical Center, Inc. “DMC” seeking damages for injuries she received when three alleged DMC employees attempted to take her wheelchair. The trial court directed a verdict for DMC on the grounds that Handy failed to prove agency. Handy assigns error to this ruling, arguing that in light of her testimony the jury should have been allowed to consider whether she had been injured by DMC’s agents. We disagree and affirm. “A directed verdict is authorized only when there is no conflict in the evidence as to any material issue and the evidence introduced, with all reasonable deductions therefrom, shall demand a particular verdict.” Citation and punctuation omitted. Carden v. Burckhalter , 214 Ga. App. 487, 488 1 b 448 SE2d 251 1994. “On appeal, we conduct a de novo review and will uphold the grant of a directed verdict only if all the evidence demands it.” Footnote omitted. Withington v. Valuation Group , 249 Ga. App. 8, 11 547 SE2d 594 2001.

So viewed, the evidence, which consisted solely of Handy’s testimony, showed that on July 2, 2004, Handy’s mother was hospitalized at DMC. Based on a conversation with her mother’s doctor, Handy believed that her mother had been cleared for release the previous day. Handy traveled to the hospital and proceeded to her mother’s room with a wheelchair that Handy had purchased. Shortly thereafter, a “social worker” entered the room and informed Handy that her mother would not be released into her care. After Handy got “cross,” the social worker left the room, made a telephone call, and, according to Handy, “all of a sudden, the three security guards show up.”

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