Court Opinion

ID: 9607283
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:57:03.431534+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:07:22.268096
License: Public Domain

Frankum, Judge.
John W. Lamb sued The Redemptorist Fathers of Georgia, Inc. in the Superior Court of Walker County for damages to recover medical expenses incurred by him for treatment of his minor son, Bobby Ray Lamb, and for the loss of services on account of personal injuries sustained by plaintiff’s son under the following alleged circumstances as set forth in his petition as finally amended: The defendant maintains and operates on its premises located in Walker County a swimming pool to which it sells to the public, for a monetary consideration, swimming privileges. Defendant has maintained and operated such swimming pool for a long period of time. It is thoroughly familiar with the common practice of its customers, using the pool, in “leaving bottles, containers, opened tin cans and other dangerous objects around the pool,” and it is also familiar with the further practice of such customers in throwing litter of a similar description in the grass growing around the edge of the pool, and defendant knew that broken bottles, tin cans and other dangerous objects likely to cut the bare feet of anyone stepping thereon were often thrown around the pool and concealed in the grass. “On the tenth of July, 1961, plaintiff’s son, after paying his admission charges for the privilege of using defendant’s pool, entered on the premises of the defendant in a bathing suit and *493without shoes on his feet. Grass was growing around such swimming pool for a distance of over fifty feet from the pool’s edge and this grass had been allowed to grow up to six to eight inches above the ground and was in an unkempt and shabby condition. Concealed under the aforementioned grass and approximately 40 feet south of the southeast corner of the pool was an open tin can with the sharp razor-like edge extending upward and, as plaintiff’s son was walking from this grass toward the concrete walk around the pool, he stepped on the razor-like edge of the can with his left foot and severely cut his said foot and sustained severe and permanent injuries thereto.” The plaintiff’s son did not know of the presence of the can concealed in the grass, and its presence so concealed constituted a hidden danger unknown to the plaintiff’s son but which was known or should have been known by the defendant. It is alleged in the petition that the defendant was negligent in failing to exercise ordinary care in keeping the premises safe, in failing to make daily inspections, in failing to warn the plaintiff’s son of the dangerous condition of the premises, in failing to rake the concealed objects out of the grass, and in leaving such objects lying around and concealed. Plaintiff alleged that the defendant is a charitable institution maintaining a parochial school on the premises in question, together with other facilities for the purpose of providing and maintaining recreational programs suited to the welfare of the students of the school and to those members of the public who desire to use such facilities for hire; that in connection with the operation of its parochial school, the defendant, through its priests and nuns as teachers, conducts religious services in the Catholic faith, and the property occupied by the defendant “is dedicated and devoted exclusively to charitable, religious, and educational purposes”; that, notwithstanding the defendant’s charitable purpose, it owns property in Walker County held for noncharitable purposes, to wit: A certain described public liability insurance policy which was in force and effect on the date the plaintiff’s son sustained his injury, the existence of which is essential to the plaintiff’s cause of action.
The defendant demurred to the petition as originally filed; the court sustained certain grounds of the demurrer with leave to *494amend; the plaintiff twice amended, and the defendant renewed its demurrers and filed additional grounds after each amendment. To the petition as finally amended the defendant filed a general demurrer and eight grounds of special demurrer. The court sustained all grounds of demurrer with leave to amend. The plaintiff declined to amend, the court dismissed the petition, and the exception here is to that judgment.
In his bill of exceptions the plaintiff in error attempts to assign error on the ruling of the court sustaining certain of the defendant’s special demurrers respecting the plaintiff’s allegations as to the extent and location of the grass growing around defendant’s swimming pool. The record shows that the plaintiff amended his petition to meet the order of the court in this regard, and having done so, he waived his objection to the order and may not now take exception thereto. Smith v. Bugg, 35 Ga. App. 317 (1) (133 SE 49); Bell v. Camp, 109 Ga. App. 221 (1) (135 SE2d 914).
The petition alleges that the defendant was negligent in that it permitted tin cans, bottles, and other debris to accumulate in the grass around its pool and failed to inspect the grass so as to ascertain the presence of and remove sharp objects of a dangerous nature thrown or accumulated around the pool during the course of its daily operations. In every action against a landowner based on his negligent failure to maintain the premises in a safe condition, actual or constructive knowledge of the landowner of the unsafe condition is an essential element of the cause of action. Thus it is essential in this case that knowledge on the part of the defendant of the presence of the tin can concealed in the grass be shown. Here the petition alleges that the dangerous instrumentality concealed in the high grass “was known to the defendant,” or that “it was its duty to know in the exercise of ordinary care.” This, of course, is merely an allegation of constructive knowledge, but it is sufficient if the specific facts otherwise alleged are such as to raise a duty on the part of the defendant to know. Pacetti v. Central of Ga. R. Co., 6 Ga. App. 97, 101 (1) (64 SE 302). Paraphrasing what was said by Judge Powell in that case: Normally, perhaps, the operator of a place of public resort, such as a swimming pool, *495would be under no duty to anticipate the presence on the ground, whereon the patrons are invited to come, of sharp objects or that a patron would likely step upon such an object and cut his foot. But, circumstances alter cases, and under the facts set forth in the petition in this case, it may be said that the defendant permitted an unusual situation to exist on its premises. Those allegations show that the defendant had permitted the grass around its pool to grow to a height of six to eight inches; it did not grow to this height overnight but did so over a period of several days at least; the defendant knew that it was the common practice of its patrons, the members of the church and the students in its private school, to leave bottles, containers, opened tin cans, and other dangerous objects around the pool, and it was also familiar with the practice of its patrons of throwing litter of a similar description into the grass around the pool. If these factual allegations be proved, then a jury would be authorized to find that the knowledge on the part of the defendant of this practice of its patrons, together with its knowledge of the unkempt condition of the grass growing around the pool, coupled with the common knowledge possessed by every person of which the defendant was bound to take notice that objects such as bottles and tin cans deposited in such high grass could not be readily observed except by one making a careful inspection, imposed upon the defendant the duty of making such an inspection of the area and of removing from the grass any dangerous objects found to be in a place where its customers were invited or reasonably expected to be. A jury would be further authorized to find that the duty to make inspections of the area and to remove dangerous objects devolved upon defendant, if not before, certainly after, the grass had reached such height as to conceal the dangerous objects deposited therein, and that this condition had existed for several days, and from this, the jury would be authorized to find that defendant had constructive knowledge of the presence of the tin can on which the plaintiff’s son stepped, and that the defendant was negligent in failing to either remove the can or warn the plaintiff’s son of its presence. Under these allegations it would be a question for a jury to determine whether or not the defendant was negligent in failing *496to make daily inspections of its premises or, upon the failure to make such inspections, to warn the plaintiff’s son that it might be dangerous for him to walk through the grass, and it would also be a jury question whether the failure of the defendant to inspect or warn, if negligent, was the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s son’s injuries.
This case is distinguishable on its facts from Jones v. West End Theater Co., 94 Ga. App. 299 (94 SE2d 135), relied on in the dissenting opinion of Judge Pannell. The decision in that case turned chiefly, if not entirely, on the failure of the plaintiff to allege in either count that the beer can on which he stepped had been on the ground a sufficient length of time to afford the defendant constructive notice of its presence, it being conceded that actual notice was not alleged under the facts set forth in the petition there. In this case it was wholly immaterial whether the tin can on which the plaintiff’s son stepped had been concealed in the grass for any particular length of time, because the fact that the defendant permitted the grass to grow to the height alleged in the petition so as to conceal objects deposited therein, coupled with the alleged knowledge on the part of the defendant of the habit of its patrons of depositing dangerous objects in the grass, imposed upon the defendant the duty of knowing that some dangerous objects might be concealed in the grass (though not necessarily the particular object which inflicted the injury), and of either warning the plaintiff’s son and others not to walk barefooted therein, or of keeping the grass cut, or of inspecting the area for and removing such objects therefrom.
The petition alleges that the tin can was concealed under the grass approximately 40 feet south of the southeast corner of the pool, and that the plaintiff’s son had paid his admission charge and was walking from this grass toward the concrete walk around the pool when he stepped on the can which cut his foot and inflicted the injuries resulting in the loss to plaintiff upon which this suit is based. Giving these allegations a natural and reasonable construction, as we are authorized to do, even on general demurrer, Georgia Power Co. v. Leonard, 187 Ga. 608, 614 (4) (1 SE2d 579), it is not apparent that the plaintiff’s son had deviated from the normal course to be taken by him in enter*497ing the pool from the place where he paid his admission charge, or that he was at a place where he was not reasonably expected to be. The duty imposed upon the defendant of keeping the premises safe for invitees extended not only to those portions of the premises which the invitees were expressly invited to use, but also to those portions which the defendant might reasonably anticipate that invitees would use or to which, from the particular situation, it would reasonably have appeared to the invitee that the invitation extended. Georgia Power Co. v. Sheats, 58 Ga. App. 730 (1a) (199 SE 582). See also Shannon v. BigelowSanford Carpet Co., 96 Ga. App. 458 (100 SE2d 478). The petition was not subject to general demurrer.
To the petition, as finally amended, the defendant filed eight grounds of special demurrer attacking the allegations of paragraphs 7, 8, and 9. Those paragraphs of the petition contain the allegations of the petition respecting the ownership by the defendant of an insurance policy insuring it against liability for bodily injury to third persons, and allege that the policy is a noncharitable asset of the defendant, a charitable institution, which, under the laws of Georgia, is immune from tort liability except to the extent that it possesses noneharitable assets. Paragraph 9 alleges that the existence of this asset is essential to the plaintiff’s cause of action. The eight grounds of special demurrer attack these allegations because, it is contended, they are irrelevant and immaterial to any issues in the case, since it appears from the petition that the defendant had other noneharitable assets in the form of admissions charged to its swimming pool; that they are highly prejudicial to the defendant and seek to inject into the case the question of liability insurance in a tort action where there is no basis for doing so; that they constitute erroneous conclusions of law; that plaintiff’s cause of action is not dependent upon the existence of such liability insurance policy, and that the allegations afford no basis for any relief sought by the plaintiff in the case. The trial court sustained all of these grounds of demurrer, and that judgment is one assigned as error in the bill of exceptions.
In the recent case of Morehouse College v. Russell, 219 Ga. 717 (135 SE2d 432), the Supreme Court, in response to four *498questions certified to it by this court, approved the decision of this court in Cox v. DeJarnette, 104 Ga. App. 664 (123 SE2d 16), and completely answered all of the contentions made by the grounds of special demurrer of the defendant respecting the allegations of the petition as to the defendant’s liability insurance coverage. It would serve no useful purpose to further lengthen this opinion by discussing the holding of the Supreme Court in that case, since a reading of what was there said by Presiding Justice Head, speaking for the Supreme Court, will plainly and concisely demonstrate that none of the grounds of special demurrer is meritorious. Following the ruling of the Supreme Court in that case, we must hold that the judgment of the trial court sustaining those grounds of special demurrer was erroneous.

Judgment reversed.

Nichols, P. J., Jordan and Russell, JJ., concur. Bell, P. J., Hall and Eberhardt, JJ., concur as to Divisions 1 and 2 of the opinion and concur specially as to Division 3. Felton, C. J., and Pannell, J., dissent.