Miller, Presiding Judge.This case arises from a slip-and-fall accident inside one of Bi-Lo, LLC’s grocery stores. On July 1, 2015, Mary Green (“Mary”) was injured when she slipped on ice tea that had spilled in one of the aisles of the store. A jury awarded her and her husband, Ernest Green, damages as a result. Bi-Lo appeals, contending that the trial court erred in (1) denying its motion for directed verdict because it did not have a reasonable amount of time to clean the spill prior to Mary’s fall; (2) refusing to give a jury charge as to the reasonable time permitted to clean the spill after notice of it; and (3) allowing the Greens’s counsel to reference inadmissible hearsay in closing despite the court’s prior order excluding hearsay. We conclude that the trial court erred in denying Bi-Lo’s motion for directed verdict. Accordingly, we reverse. We review a trial court’s denial of a motion for directed verdict under the “any evidence” standard. F.A.F. Motor Cars, Inc. v. Childers, 181 Ga. App. 821 (354 SE2d 6) (1987).So viewed, the evidence shows that the Greens were shopping for lunch at the Bi-Lo grocery store on July 1, 2015. As Mary entered the beverage aisle to get sodas, she slipped on ice tea that had spilled on the floor and fell. Prior to Mary’s fall, a different customer notified a store manager of the spill in the beverage aisle. This spilled tea created a condition which Bi-Lo admits was unsafe. Pursuant to company policy, the manager placed a caution cone in front of the spill to warn customers of the condition. The customer who notified the manager of the spill placed an additional caution cone near the spill. These cones were 3-feet tall, yellow, and had the words “caution” and “wet floor” written on them. Also pursuant to company policy, after marking off the spill with the cones, the manager then left the area to instruct a courtesy clerk to clean the spill. Mary admittedly was not looking at the floor as she walked down the aisle because her eyes were directed up towards the sodas she wanted to purchase. She did not notice the cones or the spill prior to her fall even after she successfully walked past the first cone. According to surveillance camera footage from inside the store, the time between the manager receiving notice of the spill and learning that Mary had fallen was approximately 75 seconds.The Greens sued Bi-Lo for negligence and loss of consortium. At trial, following the close of the Greens’s evidence, and again at the close of all evidence, Bi-Lo moved for a directed verdict on the ground that it could not be liable as a matter of law because it did not have a reasonable time after notice of the spill to exercise care in cleaning it up. The trial court denied the motion both times. Following a jury verdict in the Greens’s favor,[1] Bi-Lo appealed.1. Bi-Lo contends that the trial court erred in denying its motion for directed verdict because, as a matter of law, it did not have a reasonable amount of time to clean the spill. We agree.“If 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, such verdict shall be directed.” OCGA § 9-11-50 (a). An owner or occupier of land has a duty to exercise ordinary care to keep the premises and approaches of its premises and approaches safe for invitees. OCGA § 51-3-1. Nevertheless,[t]he owner/occupier is not required under OCGA § 51-3-1 to warrant the safety of all persons from all things, but to exercise the diligence toward making the premises safe that a good business person is accustomed to use in such matters. This includes taking reasonable precautions to protect invitees from dangers foreseeable from the arrangement or use of the premises.
