Franklin v. Hill

417 S.E.2d 721, 203 Ga. App. 724, 92 Fulton County D. Rep. 58, 1992 Ga. App. LEXIS 608
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedMarch 20, 1992
DocketA91A1879
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 417 S.E.2d 721 (Franklin v. Hill) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Franklin v. Hill, 417 S.E.2d 721, 203 Ga. App. 724, 92 Fulton County D. Rep. 58, 1992 Ga. App. LEXIS 608 (Ga. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinions

Johnson, Judge.

Appellants Nancy Franklin (Franklin) and her daughter, Christine Carroll (Carroll) through her mother as “next friend” brought this action against appellee Andrew Hill (Hill), Carroll’s former high-school teacher, for seduction of a daughter, under OCGA § 51-1-16. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Hill, and this appeal resulted. Franklin and her daughter filed a separate action which is pending in Federal District Court. Christine Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools and William Prescott, No. 1:88-cv2922-ODE.

Carroll alleges that in September 1986, Hill, her tenth-grade economics teacher, schemed to seduce her by befriending her and showing her favoritism over her classmates. Carroll contends that Hill requested that she perform special classroom duties, such as grading daily tests and working problems on the board in front of the class. She further contends that Hill complimented her regularly on her physical appearance. She claims that on many occasions, while the other students were in class completing daily assignments, Hill would take her to his office, which was segregated from the school building in a trailer known as the “field house,” where they would discuss various topics. Ultimately, Hill allegedly began to direct his “field house” discussions with Carroll toward sexual problems he was having with his wife, and inquired into Carroll’s sexual relationship with her boyfriend. He allegedly asked Carroll if she would consider having sex [725]*725with an older man. Carroll claims that on three occasions, during the 1987-1988 school year, Hill engaged in sexual intercourse with her during the school day and on school premises.

Hill denies all of Carroll’s allegations. He claims that he and Carroll engaged in infrequent casual conversations, and that she initiated these conversations. He further contends that on several occasions, she approached him in his office to discuss her parents’ divorce and the difficulty that it was causing her. Hill claims that he never engaged in sexual relations with Carroll.

On August 2, 1988, Franklin filed the subject action against Hill under OCGA § 51-1-16. Franklin brought the action individually, and as “next friend for Christine Carroll.”

On October 17, 1990, Hill filed his motion for summary judgment, including therein an attack on the constitutionality of OCGA § 51-1-16. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Hill finding that the appellant failed to present a genuine issue of material fact to sustain a cause of action under OCGA § 51-1-16. The court did not address the constitutionality of the statute in its order, nor did it include a statement of facts found to be undisputed which required judgment for Hill as a matter of law.

At the time the appellants filed their appeal to this court, Hill filed a motion to have this case transferred to the Supreme Court of Georgia as a result of the constitutional issue. We declined to transfer because it is not clear from the trial court’s order that the constitutional issue was ruled upon. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

1. Appellants contend that the trial court erred in granting Hill’s motion for summary judgment by finding that Nancy Franklin, in her capacity as next friend for Christine Carroll, a minor child, could not maintain a cause of action, pursuant to OCGA § 51-1-16.

OCGA § 51-1-16 provides, “the seduction of a daughter, unmarried and living with her parent, whether followed by pregnancy or not, shall give a right of action to the father, or to the mother, if the father is dead, or absent permanently, or refuses to bring an action. No loss of services need be alleged or proved. The seduction is the gist of the action, and in well-defined cases exemplary damages shall be granted.” (Emphasis supplied.) OCGA § 51-1-16.

The statute, on its face, provides that only a parent of a seduced daughter has the requisite standing to bring an action for seduction. Therefore, Carroll, the alleged victim of seduction, cannot bring a valid cause of action under OCGA § 51-1-16 in her own name through Franklin “as next friend.” Accordingly, we find that Franklin cannot pursue a cause of action on behalf of her daughter and summary judgment was properly granted as to this issue.

2. The appellants’ second enumeration of error asserts that the trial court erred in finding that virtue is a requirement of the tort of [726]*726seduction.

The elements of the tort of seduction contained in OCGA § 51-1-16 do not include a requirement that the seduced female, be “virtuous.” A cause of action under that section requires only that the seduced daughter be unmarried and living with her parent. Furthermore, the statute makes it clear that “the seduction is the gist of the action,” thus placing the emphasis on the conduct of the tortfeasor, rather than on the behavior of the alleged victim.

In Mosley v. Lynn, 172 Ga. 193 (157 SE 450) (1931), the Court, after referring to the various definitions of seduction in other jurisdictions, did not hold the virginity of the daughter to be a necessary element in the tort of seduction, although the alleged victim in that case happened to be a virgin. In Mosley, the Court held that “(i)n an action brought for the recovery of damages under the Civil Code § 4466 [now OCGA § 51-1-16], it is not necessary to allege or prove that a daughter alleged to have been seduced was virtuous. ...” Mosley, supra at 193, 194. The fact that in her deposition Carroll admits that she has had sexual relations with her boyfriend prior to the alleged acts of sexual intercourse with Hill would not preclude her mother from bringing an action under OCGA § 51-1-16.

3. In enumeration one, it is contended that the trial court erred in granting Hill’s motion for summary judgment against Franklin, individually, by finding that the actions of Hill did not constitute the tort of seduction by “false or fraudulent” means. The tort of seduction as codified in OCGA § 51-1-16 does not include a requirement that the seduction of the daughter be accomplished through “false or fraudulent” means, though the concept can be found in the sparse opinions addressing this statute under Georgia law.

In Morris v. Stanford, 53 Ga. App.

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Related

Franklin v. Hill
444 S.E.2d 778 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1994)
Brayman v. Deloach
439 S.E.2d 709 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1993)
Franklin v. Hill
417 S.E.2d 721 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1992)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
417 S.E.2d 721, 203 Ga. App. 724, 92 Fulton County D. Rep. 58, 1992 Ga. App. LEXIS 608, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/franklin-v-hill-gactapp-1992.