Browse Caselaw

The plaintiff in this case alleged that he stepped on a glass bottle which had been left on a stairway on the defendant's premises, and was by that occurrence propelled down the stairway sustaining injuries for which he sued. By amendment be alleged that the bottle on which he stepped had been on the stairway for three or four days prior to the time he stepped on it and that the neglect of the defendant to remove said bottle for that length of time amounted to the failure to exercise ordinary care and diligence. Subsequently, the plaintiff amended his petition, and without striking prior allegations in this regard, alleged "for a long period of time prior to said injury empty bottles were left, almost daily, on said steps. That often defendant's employees would use the stairway as a place to eat lunch, and would leave empty bottles after their lunch. These bottles would remain on the steps until a routine visit by the janitor, when they would be removed. These visits by the janitor were not of a schedule, but he would make such visits two or three times a day." By a subsequent amendment, and again without striking prior allegations, the plaintiff alleged, "plaintiff does not know for what length of time said bottle, on which he stepped, had been on the steps, but does hereby allege that . . . it was failure upon the part of defendant to exercise ordinary care, toward plaintiff, to keep said stairway safe, regardless of the length of time the bottle had been on the steps." Held:

729 (23 S. E. 2d 860); Watson v. McCrory Stores, 97 Ga. App. 516 (103 S. E. 2d 648); Lupion v. Blass, 101 Ga. App. 264 (113 S. E. 2d 413); Wootton v. City of Atlanta, 101 Ga. App. 779 (115 S. E. 2d 396). Allegations that the defendant's employees habitually left bottles on the stairway after eating their lunches did not amount to an allegation that this was done by the defendant or that the defendant had notice of such facts. The general demurrer to the amended petition was properly sustained and the petition properly dismissed.