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COOPER v. CORPORATE PROPERTY INVESTORS3/7/1996
Margaret and Herbert Cooper sued Corporate Property Investors, Pembroke Management, Inc. and Events Elements, Inc. for injuries sustained when Mrs. Cooper tripped over a board at Independence Day festivities being held in the Lenox Square Mall parking lot. The trial court granted summary judgment to all three defendants, and the Coopers appealed. For reasons which follow, we affirm.
"To prevail at summary judgment under OCGA § 9-11-56, the moving party must demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the undisputed facts, viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, warrant judgment as a matter of law. OCGA § 9-11-56(c). A defendant may do this by showing the court that the documents, affidavits, depositions and other evidence in the record reveal that there is no evidence sufficient to create a
jury issue on at least one essential element of plaintiff's case. If there is no evidence sufficient to create a genuine issue as to any essential element of plaintiff's claim, that claim tumbles like a house of cards. See, e.g., Holiday Inns, v. Newton, 157 Ga. App. 436 (278 S.E.2d 85) (1981). A defendant who will not bear the burden of proof at trial need not affirmatively disprove the nonmoving party's case; instead, the burden on the moving party may be discharged by pointing out by reference to the affidavits, depositions and other documents in the record that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case. If the moving party discharges this burden, the nonmoving party cannot rest on its pleadings, but rather must point to specific evidence giving rise to a triable issue. OCGA § 9-11-56(e)." Lau's Corp. v. Haskins, 261 Ga. 491 (405 S.E.2d 474) (1991). Our review of an appeal from summary judgment is de novo. Moore v. Food Assoc., 210 Ga. App. 780, 781 (437 S.E.2d 832) (1993).
In their complaint, the Coopers alleged Mrs. Cooper tripped on a board placed over a temporary cable laid on the pavement in preparation for the festivities. The Coopers alleged that Corporate Investors, the owner of Lenox Square Mall, Pembroke Management, the mall's property manager, and Events Elements, the event coordinator, were negligent in permitting the cable and board to be placed in a location where they knew or should have known that pedestrians might trip over it.
Corporate Investors and Pembroke Management moved for summary judgment asserting that they had not breached their duty of care to Mrs. Cooper and that she failed to exercise ordinary care for her own safety. Events Elements moved for summary judgment asserting that (1) it did not own or control the property where Mrs. Cooper fell, (2) have any knowledge of the claimed hazard, and because (3) Mrs. Cooper failed to exercise ordinary care for her own safety.
Viewed in a light most favorable to the Coopers as the nonmoving parties, the record shows that at the time of her injury, Mrs. Cooper was the public relations director for W.B. Johnson Properties, d/b/a Ritz Carlton Buckhead ("Ritz Carlton"). In her deposition, Mrs. Cooper testified that she and other Ritz Carlton managers received an invitation from "Lenox Square" to attend the festivities including an invitation to the VIP tent. Mrs. Cooper stated that her primary purpose for attending the event was to direct the photographing of the Ritz Carlton orchestra, which was performing as part of the festivities. Accordingly, Mrs. Cooper met with a photographer at approximately 6:30 p.m. and directed him to take pictures of the orchestra and the crowd. When the photography session ended, Mrs. Cooper decided to visit the VIP tent. As Mrs. Cooper walked through a large crowd on her way to the tent, her "foot cau
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