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Imperial Foods Supply3/27/2003
In this personal injury action, Imperial Foods Supply, Inc. ("Imperial Foods"), appeals the denial of its motions for directed verdict and for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or in the alternative for a new trial. Imperial Foods also challenges the trial court's refusal to give several requested jury charges. We affirm.
"We review the denial of both a motion for directed verdict and a motion for j.n.o.v. under the `any evidence' standard. Under this standard, we must construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the party who obtained a verdict, and if there is any evidence to support the verdict, we will not disturb it."
So construed, the evidence shows that Emily June Purvis was the general manager and vice president of the Piccadilly Cafeteria in Brunswick, Georgia, where she was involved in an accident on June 19, 1999. Purvis testified that Imperial Foods was Piccadilly's main vendor, and that it delivered food to the cafeteria once a week in an "eighteen-wheeler" truck. Typically, there would be two or three people on the delivery truck who would unload the food. But on the day of the incident the driver was alone, so Purvis asked James Collins, one of her employees, to assist him.
Purvis testified that the driver told her that the door was broken as he propped hand dollies against it in an attempt to hold it open. Collins recalled that the two dollies did not hold the door open because it was a windy day. The driver told Purvis, "we're going to have to get this door tied back." Purvis told Collins to find something, and he returned with a leather strap. Purvis testified that the driver said that the strap would work and instructed Collins to put it on the door. After the door was tied back, Purvis again asked if the strap would hold the door, and after looking at it, the driver indicated that it would.
Purvis testified that they had finished unloading the truck when a gust of wind blew and she heard the strap pop. She tried to move out of the way but was knocked to the ground by the truck door. When Purvis fell, she crushed bones in her left hand and wrist. She filed the instant action against Imperial Foods and a Glynn County jury awarded her $150,000 in damages.
1. In its first two enumerated errors, Imperial Foods argues that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law because there was no evidence as to what caused the strap to break, nor was it foreseeable that the strap would fail. Although its brief mentions both proximate cause and negligence, the essence of appellant's argument is that because no evidence was presented to explain the strap's failure, a jury should not be allowed to infer negligence from that failure. Moreover, Imperial Foods asserts that the failure was not foreseeable, and hence the use of the strap was not negligence.
The evidence in this case shows that the driver knew that the latch used to secure the door during deliveries was broken when he left his employer's warehouse; that the doors were very large; that it was windy when the driver and Collins were unloading the truck; and that because of the wind, the driver's attempts to secure the truck door by propping the dollies against it had failed. Also, photographs of a similar truck with an operable latch, as well as the actual strap used to secure the door were introduced into evidence for the jury's consideration. This evidence was adequate to support inferences by the jury that the defendant was negligent by allowing the use of a delivery truck with an inoperable door latch or vicariously liable for the negligent attempt to secure the door with an inadequate strap. Precisely which act or failure to act impressed the jury cannot be d
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