Hubbard v. Taylor3/20/2000
Appeal From Richland County Larry R. Patterson, Circuit Court Judge
Heard February 9, 2000
AFFIRMED
Norma J. Hubbard (the daughter) brought this negligence action against Leonard Taylor, the owner and director of Greenbrier Retirement Village, for the injuries and resulting death of her mother, Marjorie Hammond Hubbard (the mother), a resident of Greenbrier. Taylor moved for summary judgment based on the daughter's execution of a Covenant Not to Sue which settled all claims against Taylor and Greenbrier except for any claim against Taylor, individually, to the extent he was not acting on behalf of Greenbrier. The trial court granted Taylor's motion for summary judgment, finding Taylor had no duty to the mother separate and apart from his duty as operator of Greenbrier and that, even if there were a duty, Taylor's alleged negligence was not the proximate cause of the mother's injuries. The daughter appeals. We affirm.
FACTUAL/PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Taylor owned and operated the Greenbrier Retirement Village located in Winnsboro, South Carolina. In 1991, the daughter applied for admission of her mother to Greenbrier. The mother was then 76 and had experienced periods of confusion and had wandered from her home on several occasions. She suffered from hardening of the arteries, which affected her mental condition. Her short-term memory was very poor, and she seemed to regress to past incidents. Taylor visited with the mother to determine her needs and accepted her as a resident of Greenbrier.
On January 8, 1992, Taylor's automobile was in the parking lot at Greenbrier. The vehicle was unlocked, and an unsealed container of antifreeze was in the floorboard of the back seat. A couple days before, Taylor had used the container of antifreeze to refill the radiator. Taylor usually left his car unlocked, and he did so on this occasion. The car had been used at Greenbrier since 1988 to transport residents at the facility.
When Ada Willingham, a Greenbrier employee, arrived for work on January 8, 1992, she heard a car horn blowing and went to investigate. She found the mother and another resident, Aileen Waddell, sitting in Taylor's car in the parking lot. Waddell was in the driver's seat and the mother was in the back. When asked what they were doing, the mother stated they were going for a ride, and Waddell said next time they would get a car that cranks. The mother picked up the container of antifreeze from the floor, held it in her arms, and called it her "doll baby." Willingham told them to go back inside, and both ladies returned to Greenbrier without assistance.
Later that evening, Rhonda Jennings, a supervisor at Greenbrier, noticed that both the mother and Waddell began experiencing stomach pains and falling down. Jennings had the mother transported to the emergency room after she began throwing up brown material. Waddell was taken to the hospital the following morning. Both the mother and Waddell subsequently died of antifreeze poisoning.
On April 7, 1994, the daughter settled her claims with Taylor and Greenbrier for the death of the mother for $750,000. Of the settlement amount, $7,500 was allocated to the action for conscious pain and suffering and $742,500 for wrongful death. In exchange, the daughter executed a "Covenant Not to Sue," which expressly provided the daughter was releasing
Greenbrier Retirement Center, Greenbrier Retirement Village, Inc., Continental Insurance Company, their agents, servants, employers, employees, affiliates, subsidiaries, parent companies, officers, directors, shareholders, personal representatives, heirs, successors, and assigns and all others who
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