Boyd v. Big Lots Stores, Inc.
Boyd v. Big Lots Stores, Inc.
Opinion
Regina Boyd was an invitee at a store leased and occupied by Big Lots Stores, Inc., which was located in a shopping center with a common area parking lot owned by the shopping center owner/lessor. After Boyd left the Big Lots store, she was injured when she slipped and fell in the parking lot while walking to her car. Boyd sued Big Lots claiming that her injury was proximately caused by the negligent failure of Big Lots: (1) to discharge the duty imposed on it by OCGA § 51-3-1 to keep the store premises and approaches safe for invitees; or (2) to discharge a duty it voluntarily assumed pursuant to Restatement (Second) of Torts § 324A to protect its invitees from the dangerous condition in the parking lot of which it had notice. Boyd appeals from the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Big Lots on these claims, and for the reasons that follow, we affirm.
1. Under OCGA § 51-3-1, Big Lots owed a duty to its invitees to exercise ordinary care to keep the store premises, and the approaches to the premises, "in a reasonably safe condition."
Robinson v. Kroger Co.
,
Under
Motel Properties, Inc. v. Miller
,
that property directly contiguous, adjacent to, and touching those entryways to premises under the control of an owner or occupier of land, through which the owner or occupier, by express or implied invitation, has induced or led others to come upon his premises for any lawful purpose, and through which such owner or occupier could foresee a reasonable invitee would *701 find it necessary or convenient to traverse while entering or exiting in the course of the business for which the invitation was extended. By "contiguous, adjacent to, and touching," we mean that property within the last few steps taken by invitees, as opposed to "mere pedestrians," as they enter or exit the premises. It is only within the confines of this limited approach that [a duty is imposed] on a landowner [or occupier] to exercise ordinary care over property not within the landowner's [or occupier's] control.
The extent of an approach to the premises under this definition "necessarily depends upon the circumstances of a particular case-i.e., what constitutes the 'last few steps' on foot is necessarily a lesser measure of proximity to the premises that the last few steps taken in the context of a faster moving automobile."
Combs v. Atlanta Auto Auction, Inc.
,
Moreover, the trial court correctly found that there was no basis in the record to conclude that the non-contiguous parking lot where Boyd slipped and fell qualified for the exception recognized in
Motel Properties , supra, where "under certain circumstances non-contiguous property can be deemed an approach because the landowner [or occupier] extended the approach to his premises by some
positive action
on his part, such as constructing a sidewalk, ramp, or other
direct
approach."
Motel Properties
,
Boyd also contends that Big Lots had a duty under OCGA § 51-3-1 to take steps to protect her from the hazardous condition in the parking lot, even if the parking lot was not part of the store premises or approaches. Boyd points to evidence that Big Lots knew its store invitees used the parking lot to enter and leave the store and knew that hazardous conditions could arise in the parking
*702
lot. And evidence showed that about 60 to 70 seconds before Boyd slipped and fell in the parking lot, another Big Lots shopper, who had just walked into the store from the parking lot, told a Big Lots employee that there was a slippery substance in the parking lot that he had just slipped on and that needed to be cleaned up. Citing to
Martin v. Six Flags Over Georgia II, L.P.
,
In
Martin
, the Supreme Court considered whether Six Flags could be held liable under OCGA § 51-3-1 for injuries incurred by a Six Flags invitee resulting from a third party criminal attack which occurred a short distance off the Six Flags premises and approaches shortly after the invitee had departed from Six Flags.
Martin
found that Six Flags had a duty under OCGA § 51-3-1 to exercise ordinary care to keep its premises and approaches safe to protect its invitee from the attack which subsequently occurred off the premises and approaches.
Martin
,
Unlike Martin , the only dangerous condition which caused Boyd's slip and fall was the static slippery condition in the parking lot, a common area owned and maintained by the shopping center owner/lessor, which was not part of the Big Lots *703 store premises or approaches. There was no evidence of any dangerous condition existing on the Big Lots store premises or approaches. Accordingly, there was no basis to conclude that, while Boyd was on the Big Lots store premises or approaches, Big Lots breached a duty of care under OCGA § 51-3-1 to keep those areas safe that was a proximate cause of Boyd's subsequent slip and fall in the parking lot. It follows that the rationale adopted in Martin , supra, for imposing liability under OCGA § 51-3-1 for injuries incurred by a former invitee off the premises and approaches has no application in the present case. The trial court correctly granted summary judgment in favor of Big Lots on Boyd's claim under OCGA § 51-3-1. OCGA § 9-11-56.
2. The trial court correctly found there was no basis for Boyd's claim that Big Lots breached a duty it voluntarily assumed pursuant to Restatement (Second) of Torts § 324A to protect her from the dangerous condition in the parking lot.
As set forth above, Boyd points to evidence: (1) that, about 60 to 70 seconds before she slipped and fell in the parking lot, a Big Lots store employee was warned by another invitee that there was a dangerous slippery condition in the parking lot, and (2) that, if Big Lots store employees received notice of a dangerous condition in the parking lot, they would sometimes respond by voluntarily undertaking to temporarily address the danger until the owner/lessee could respond.
Under Section 324A,
[o]ne who undertakes, gratuitously or for consideration, to render services to another which he should recognize as necessary for the protection of a third person or his things, is subject to liability to the third person for physical harm resulting from his failure to exercise reasonable care to protect his undertaking, if (a) his failure to exercise reasonable care increases the risk of such harm, or (b) he has undertaken to perform a duty owed by the other to the third person, or (c) the harm is suffered because of reliance of the other or the third person upon the undertaking.
Section 324A has been adopted in Georgia as an accurate statement of the common law.
Herrington v. Gaulden
,
As to Section 324A (a), this subsection
applies only to the extent that the alleged negligence of the defendant exposes the injured person to a greater risk of harm than had existed previously. Accordingly, Section 324A (a) applies when a nonhazardous condition is made hazardous through the negligence of a person who changed its condition or caused it to be changed. Liability does not attach for failing to decrease the risk of harm. Put another way, the mere failure to abate a hazardous condition-without making it worse-does not trigger the application of Section 324A (a).
Herrington
,
Under Section 324A (b), Boyd points to evidence showing that Big Lots sometimes undertook a duty owed by the shopping center owner/lessor to invitees to keep the parking lot in a safe condition. But even if Big Lots got notice of the hazard 60 to 70 seconds before the Boyd slipped and fell, there is no evidence that, during that brief period, Big Lots undertook to perform a duty owed by the shopping center owner/lessor to Boyd. And subsection (b) only applies where performance is to be substituted completely for that of the party on whose behalf the undertaking is carried out.
Fair v. CV Underground, LLC
,
Finally, to impose liability under Section 324A (c) required a showing that Boyd suffered the slip and fall injuries because of *704 actual reliance by her or the shopping center owner/lessor on an undertaking by Big Lots to remedy the parking lot hazard. Even if Big Lots had notice of the slippery condition in the parking lot 60 to 70 seconds before the slip and fall, there was no basis to conclude that Boyd or the shopping center owner/lessor relied on any undertaking by Big Lots to remedy the hazard.
The trial court correctly granted summary judgment to Big Lots on Boyd's claims based on Section 324A. OCGA § 9-11-56.
Judgment affirmed.
Miller, P.J., and Brown, J J., concur.
The proximate cause issue addressed by the Court of Appeals opinion was whether Six Flags' breach of the duty under OCGA § 51-3-1 to keep its premises and approaches safe was a proximate cause of injuries resulting from the attack that the Court erroneously concluded occurred on an approach to the premises where Six Flags exercised control and had a duty to keep the approach safe.
Six Flags Over Georgia
,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.