Basset v. Winfield Farm, Inc. et al.

Facts

Jami Bassett was injured when she was riding as a passenger in a Jeep that her 14-year-old friend Addison Morel was driving. Addison was driving the Jeep on her family’s 700-acre cattle farm. Bassett filed a lawsuit against Addison’s mother, Amy Morel, and her farming business for negligent entrustment of the Jeep.

The Defendants’ filed a Motion for Summary Judgment on the negligent entrustment claim, and the trial court granted it because it concluded Addison Morel did not have permission to drive the Jeep. Bassett appealed. 

Issues & Holdings

1. Was the trial court’s granting of summary judgment on the negligent entrustment claim correct?
2. Did the trial court correctly grant summary judgment to the farming business? 

The Court of Appeals held that the trial court correctly granted the Motion for Summary Judgment. 

Reasoning

The Court of Appeals observed that both Addison and her mother testified that Addison was not allowed to drive the Jeep without first obtaining permission from her mother. On the day of this incident, the facts were undisputed that Addison did not ask her mother for permission to drive the Jeep. Because there was direct and positive testimony on this issue, the Plaintiff had to come forward with evidence that contradicted the testimony.

Plaintiff attempted to rebut the testimony by pointing to evidence showing Addison had previously been allowed to drive the jeep, including the night before; that her mother knew Addison had broken driving rules before; and that her mother left the keys in the Jeep.

The Court of Appeals concluded that none of these facts created a genuine issue of material fact because Addison was required to get permission to drive the Jeep and had failed to obtain that permission before driving it at the time of the incident. 

As for the claim against the farming business, the Court of Appeals concluded that there was no evidence that the business owned it. Instead, Addison’s mother owned the Jeep. Furthermore, there was no evidence showing that Addison was acting on behalf of the farm when she took the Jeep.

Conclusion

Bassett reinforces the rule that a negligent entrustment claim requires evidence that the owner gave the negligent driver permission to drive the vehicle. Evidence that the driver had driven it on prior occasions, or that the owner left the keys in the vehicle, is not sufficient to submit the case to a jury.

Citation: Basset v. Winfield Farm, Inc. et al., No. A23A1134 (Ga. Ct. App. August 14, 2023)