Court Opinion

ID: 9581631
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:16:57.143601+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:37:08.540129
License: Public Domain

McMurray, Presiding Judge,
dissenting.
A proprietor informed of a criminal activity in progress on the premises is placed under a duty to exercise reasonable care to prevent harm to its invitee. Lau’s Corp. v. Haskins, 261 Ga. 491, 492 (1) (405 SE2d 474). In my view, a jury could conclude that defendant’s agent’s initial refusal to telephone the police and failure to fully inform police when he subsequently did call them was a breach of that duty. The majority’s conclusion that plaintiff was not harmed by such a breach of duty because pay phones were available to plaintiff is contradicted by evidence that plaintiff had no change to operate the pay phones and did not recognize that the phones could be used to access the telephone operator or 911 without money. Plaintiff’s testimony as to the events contained repeated references in this regard, including that she asked her companion for a quarter, but her companion had no money, and that she “asked them to call the police because I had no money.” Consequently, any question as to whether plaintiff exercised ordinary care should be submitted to a jury. I would affirm the ruling of the state court.
I am authorized to state that Judge Pope and Judge Cooper join in this dissent.