Roberts v. Forte Hotels, Inc.

489 S.E.2d 540, 227 Ga. App. 471, 97 Fulton County D. Rep. 2530, 1997 Ga. App. LEXIS 854, 97 FCDR 2530
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJuly 2, 1997
DocketA97A0398, A97A0399
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 489 S.E.2d 540 (Roberts v. Forte Hotels, Inc.) 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
Roberts v. Forte Hotels, Inc., 489 S.E.2d 540, 227 Ga. App. 471, 97 Fulton County D. Rep. 2530, 1997 Ga. App. LEXIS 854, 97 FCDR 2530 (Ga. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinions

Andrews, Chief Judge.

Case No. A97A0398

Janice Roberts appeals the trial court’s order granting Forte Hotels, Inc.’s f/k/a The Travelodge Corporation, d/b/a Travelodge Hotel, Atlanta. (“Travelodge”) motion for partial summary judgment on the issues of failure to warn and punitive damages and its motion for sanctions and attorney fees in a discovery dispute. For the reasons which follow, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

This case arose when Janice Roberts was attacked by two unknown assailants at the Travelodge Hotel on North Druid Hills Road. Around 10:30 p.m. on the night in question, Roberts and a friend parked their car and walked toward the lobby of the hotel. As Roberts was about to open the front door, two men attacked them, throwing Roberts to the ground. The assailants tore her clothing and took her purse. Roberts suffered a wrenched shoulder and lower back, sprained hip, muscle strain and bruises. In addition to being physically injured, Roberts was terrified by the attack and had to [472]*472seek psychiatric help.

Travelodge filed a motion for summary judgment or, in the alternative, a motion for partial summary judgment on the issues of punitive damages and failure to warn. The court denied the motion for summary judgment, but granted the motion for partial summary judgment, and this appeal followed.

1. Roberts claims the trial court erred in granting Travelodge partial summary judgment on the issue of punitive damages because Travelodge failed to provide dusk-to-dawn security every day, even though it was on notice of several previous attacks in and around the hotel. The similar incidents occurring on the hotel premises were: three robberies of hotel auditors in the hotel lobby in August 1987, December 11, 1992, and April 2, 1993; the armed robbery of a hotel guest in the, parking lot; and fifteen incidents of robberies and damage to cars in and around the hotel. Although Travelodge employed dusk-to-dawn security on weekends, it did not have a guard on the premises seven days a week.

OCGA § 51-12-5.1 (b) provides: “Punitive damages may be awarded only in such tort actions in which it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant’s actions showed willful misconduct, malice, fraud, wantonness, oppression, or that entire want of care which would raise the presumption of conscious indifference to consequences.”

Under this Code section, “it remains the rule that something more than the mere commission of a tort is always required for punitive damages. There must be circumstances of aggravation or outrage. There is general agreement that, because it lacks this element, mere negligence is not enough,” Walker v. Sturbridge Partners, Ltd., 221 Ga. App. 36, 40 (4) (470 SE2d 738) (1996), aff’d in part and rev’d on other groünds, Sturbridge Partners, Ltd. v. Walker, 267 Ga. 785 (482 SE2d 339) (1997) and “even gross negligencet ] is inadequate to support a punitive damage award.” Howard v. Alamo Corp., 216 Ga. App. 525, 526 (455 SE2d 308) (1995).

A former manager at the Travelodge testified at her deposition that she hired security for weekends only because that was when the majority of the problems occurred. She also stated that, in an effort to increase guests’ safety, hedges were cut down around the building, floodlights were added to the parking lot, and a night manager was scheduled to be on duty during the week.

In light of this, we do not find sufficient evidence that Travelodge’s conduct showed the requisite degree of wilful misconduct, malice, wantonness, oppression or otherwise evinced an entire want of care sufficient to authorize the imposition of punitive damages. Walker, supra at 41; Assoc. Health Systems v. Jones, 185 Ga. App. 798, 802-803 (366 SE2d 147) (1988). Accordingly, the trial court [473]*473did not err in granting Travelodge’s motion for partial summary judgment on this issue.

2. Next, Roberts claims the trial court erred in granting Travelodge’s motion for summary judgment on her failure to warn claim. Roberts admits that Lau’s Corp. v. Haskins, 261 Ga. 491 (405 SE2d 474) (1991) is to the contrary.

Lau’s states: “We decline, however, to require owners to post signs warning of a generalized risk of crime. It is difficult even to imagine what such warnings would include: Watch out! This is a high crime neighborhood,’ or, ‘Since 1982, two rapes and one robbery have occurred in this parking lot.’ ” Id. at 493 (2). The Court concluded “no such duty currently exists in the law.” Id.

But, Roberts cites Atlanta Center Ltd. v. Cox, 178 Ga. App. 184 (341 SE2d 15) (1986) (physical precedent only) as authority for her contention that Lau’s Corp. is not controlling in this case. However, in Atlanta Center Ltd. the Court never specifically held that defendants had a duty to warn. The Court stated that because defendants had undertaken to provide security to patrons using the elevators and hallways, then, having undertaken that duty, defendants were required to perform it in a non-negligent manner. Atlanta Center, supra at 185. This case is not helpful to Roberts. Travelodge provided security on the weekend, but, as Roberts herself states, there was no security on duty the night she was attacked.

Accordingly, Travelodge did not have a duty to warn its guests of possible criminal attacks. Lau’s Corp., supra at 493. The trial court did not err in granting Travelodge’s motion for partial summary judgment on this issue.

3. Lastly, Roberts claims the trial court erred in granting Travelodge’s motion for sanctions and attorney fees. Travelodge filed the motion under OCGA § 9-11-37 (d) after Roberts’ counsel and expert witness failed to appear for the expert’s deposition.

Roberts contends her counsel made numerous attempts to reschedule the deposition for some later date. Roberts finally filed a motion for protective order on January 30, the day before the deposition was scheduled. Travelodge argues that it wanted to schedule the deposition before the end of discovery, which was January 31, and also that Roberts never stated any legally sufficient reason for failing to attend the deposition. After a hearing on the issue, the trial court granted the motion for sanctions and awarded Travelodge $1,188 in attorney fees.

“ ‘This court has repeatedly held that it will not reverse a trial court’s decision on discovery matters absent a clear abuse of discretion.’ ” (Citations omitted.) Nixon v. Sandy Springs Fitness Center, 167 Ga. App. 272 (1) (306 SE2d 362) (1983). After reviewing the record, we find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s decision to [474]*474grant the motion for sanctions.

Further, Roberts’ contention that. her counsel was given no opportunity to question the amount of the attorney fees awarded is without merit. Defense counsel submitted an affidavit listing the amount of the fees. The court conducted a lengthy hearing on the motion and questioned defense counsel as to the amount of his fees. If counsel disputed the amount, he should have said so at the time and asked for an opportunity to cross-examine.

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Roberts v. Forte Hotels, Inc.
489 S.E.2d 540 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1997)

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Bluebook (online)
489 S.E.2d 540, 227 Ga. App. 471, 97 Fulton County D. Rep. 2530, 1997 Ga. App. LEXIS 854, 97 FCDR 2530, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roberts-v-forte-hotels-inc-gactapp-1997.