A new Georgia Court of Appeals ruling has put property owners on notice about their responsibility for the safety of delivery drivers, sparked by a case involving a Grubhub driver’s fall in Roswell. The decision in Patterson v. Fulton County Retail Properties, LLC, handed down on October 14, 2025, fundamentally shifts how we handle premises liability claims for people injured while making deliveries. For property owners and delivery drivers moving through commercial and residential properties, this changes the game.
Key Takeaways
- The Georgia Court of Appeals has reinforced that property owners owe delivery drivers, as invitees, a duty of ordinary care which includes inspecting for and removing hazards.
- To avoid liability, property owners in Roswell and across Georgia must now actively find and fix known dangers and also reasonably look for hidden ones.
- If you’re a delivery driver and you get hurt, your first moves should be documenting the scene and getting medical care. A successful claim hinges on proving the owner knew about the hazard.
- The Patterson ruling confirms that a property owner can be liable even if they didn’t have direct notice of a hazard, as long as they *should have known* it was there (constructive knowledge).
- Both commercial and residential property owners need to start conducting regular safety checks and communicating with delivery services about site-specific risks.
Understanding the Property Owner’s Duty of Care in Georgia
Under Georgia law (specifically O.C.G.A. Section 51-3-1), a property owner owes a duty of “ordinary care” to keep their property safe for invitees. A Grubhub driver is a perfect example of an invitee, they’re on the property for a reason that benefits both parties (the driver earns money, the owner gets their delivery). The Patterson ruling makes it clear this is an active duty. It requires property owners to actually exercise that ordinary care by inspecting their property, then discovering and either removing or warning people about any dangerous conditions they find.
The Court of Appeals really zeroed in on the concept of constructive knowledge. In the Patterson case, a delivery driver slipped on some water near a loading dock at a Roswell shopping center. The property owner’s defense was that they had no actual notice of the water. But the court decided that if evidence showed the water was a recurring problem, or that the owner had simply failed to do reasonable inspections that would’ve found it, then they had constructive knowledge. This means property owners can’t just claim ignorance if a simple inspection would have revealed the danger. For anyone working on a premises liability case, this distinction is everything.
Who is Affected by This Ruling?
This ruling changes things for a lot of people across Georgia, especially in busy suburbs like Roswell, Alpharetta, and Sandy Springs.
- Property Owners: Owners of commercial properties like shopping centers, office buildings, and restaurants are on the hook, as are residential property owners (homeowners and landlords) who get frequent deliveries. There’s now a real focus on proactive maintenance. You can’t just sit back and wait for someone to report a problem. Ignoring a recurring issue could now make you liable.
- Delivery Drivers: Drivers for services like Grubhub, DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Amazon Flex have a much stronger legal footing. If you’re injured because of a hazard the property owner knew about (or should have known about), getting compensation is more direct. This covers everything from falls on cracked pavement and slippery floors to trips in poorly lit stairwells.
- Property Management Companies: The companies hired to maintain commercial properties need to get serious about their inspection schedules and logs. This ruling shows that detailed records are your best defense to prove you were meeting your duty of care.
- Legal Practitioners: For attorneys working in personal injury and premises liability, this ruling changes our entire case strategy. The new emphasis on constructive knowledge means our discovery process will now aggressively target maintenance records, inspection logs, and any prior reports of incidents on the property.
I see it all the time: property owners try to play dumb and claim they “didn’t know” about a hazard. This ruling guts that defense when there’s any sign of neglect. It forces a more diligent approach to safety, which is frankly long overdue.
Concrete Steps Property Owners Should Take
After the Patterson v. Fulton County Retail Properties, LLC decision, if you own property in Roswell or anywhere in Georgia, you need to take these proactive steps to reduce your liability risk:
- Regular and Documented Inspections: Start a routine inspection schedule for all parts of your property, including walkways, entrances, delivery zones, and parking lots. You must document every inspection, note the date, time, who did it, and what you found or fixed. For a commercial property, daily checks of busy areas are a good idea.
- Prompt Hazard Remediation: You find a hazard, you fix it. Now. Whether it’s a spill, a patch of uneven pavement, or a burned-out lightbulb, it needs to be addressed immediately. If a permanent fix isn’t possible right away, you have to deploy clear warnings like cones or “Wet Floor” signs. In these cases, how fast you respond is a huge factor.
- Address Recurring Issues: Pay close attention to problems that keep coming back, like water pooling from a clogged gutter or debris that always collects in one corner. These are red flags for constructive knowledge if you don’t fix the underlying cause. A temporary patch won’t cut it.
- Maintain Adequate Lighting: Make sure all your common areas are well-lit, particularly pathways and stairwells where deliveries happen. This is especially important during the evening and early morning. Bad lighting is a classic ingredient in a slip-and-fall lawsuit.
- Clear Communication with Delivery Services: Consider posting signs that point out specific property hazards or show a preferred, safer delivery route. It’s no substitute for actually maintaining a safe property, but clear communication can definitely help.
- Review Insurance Coverage: Pull out your general liability policy and read it. You need to confirm you have adequate coverage for premises liability claims and understand your policy limits and exclusions before you ever need to use it.
The principles from the *Patterson* ruling apply to any liability claims from October 14, 2025, forward. For property managers, especially in high-traffic spots like Roswell’s Canton Street district where pedestrians and delivery drivers are everywhere, this is a serious wake-up call.
What Injured Delivery Drivers Should Do
If you’re a Grubhub driver or any delivery worker and get hurt on someone else’s property in Georgia, you need to take these exact steps to protect your rights:
- Seek Medical Attention: Your health comes first. Get checked out by a doctor right away, even for what seems like a minor injury. Some problems, like soft tissue damage or even concussions, might not be obvious for hours or days. Be sure to keep all of your medical records and bills.
- Document the Scene: If you can do it safely, use your phone to take pictures and video of the exact spot where you fell. Get shots of the hazard (the spill, the broken step, the dark walkway) from multiple angles and make a note of the date, time, and weather.
- Identify Witnesses: Did anyone see it happen? Get their name and phone number. An independent witness can make or break a case.
- Report the Incident: Tell the property owner or manager what happened as soon as you can. If it’s a commercial property, ask them to fill out an incident report and make sure you get a copy.
- Do Not Give Recorded Statements: Be extremely cautious about giving a recorded statement to an insurance adjuster before you’ve consulted an attorney. They are trained to use your words against you.
- Consult with a Personal Injury Attorney: You need a lawyer who has experience with Georgia premises liability law. They’ll know the *Patterson* case and its focus on constructive knowledge, which is precisely the kind of specific legal expertise required to handle these claims.
A lot of drivers, especially gig workers, don’t realize what their rights are when they get hurt. You’re not “at work” in a way that qualifies for workers’ comp. That’s why premises liability is so important. An injury on someone else’s property isn’t a claim for the State Board of Workers’ Compensation. It’s a personal injury case against the property owner.
The Role of Evidence in Premises Liability Claims
After *Patterson*, winning a premises liability claim comes down to evidence that proves the owner knew (or should have known) about the danger. If a Grubhub driver slipped on a patch of ice in a Roswell parking lot, the case isn’t about the fall, it’s about proving the owner knew about the ice and did nothing. Here’s the kind of evidence that works:
- Maintenance Logs: These records show when the property was last inspected. A big gap in the logs can be just as damning as a log showing they never fixed a recurring problem.
- Prior Incident Reports: If other people have been injured in the same spot before, these reports establish a pattern and prove the owner was on notice.
- Photographs and Videos: Visuals are powerful, especially if they show a long-standing issue like a broken sprinkler head causing a constant wet spot on a walkway.
- Eyewitness Testimony: Statements from other tenants or visitors who saw the dangerous condition *before* the incident are gold.
- Expert Testimony: In some cases, a safety expert can be brought in to testify about industry standards for property maintenance and show exactly how the property owner’s actions (or lack thereof) failed to meet those standards.
- Security Camera Footage: Surveillance video can be the best evidence, often showing not only the incident itself but also how long a hazard was present before the fall.
Many of these cases are litigated in the Fulton County Superior Court, and the judges there expect to see thorough evidence. You can’t just walk in and say “I fell.” You have to demonstrate **why** the property owner is legally responsible for that fall by proving they had actual or constructive knowledge of the hazard.
The takeaway from the *Patterson* ruling is clear: property owners in Georgia have a serious responsibility to keep their property safe for everyone, including delivery drivers. By understanding these duties, both property owners and delivery personnel can better handle the realities of premises safety and liability. If you own property, you need to review your safety protocols now to align with what the courts expect.
What does “duty of ordinary care” mean for property owners in Georgia?
In Georgia, “duty of ordinary care” under O.C.G.A. Section 51-3-1 means a property owner has to take reasonable steps to keep their property safe for visitors. It’s not a guarantee of perfect safety, but it means they have to act reasonably to find, fix, or warn about any dangers they could foresee.
How does constructive knowledge affect a premises liability claim after the Patterson ruling?
Constructive knowledge means the law considers a property owner to have known about a hazard if they *should have known* about it through a reasonable inspection, even if they claim they never saw it. The Patterson* ruling reinforces that if a problem keeps happening or inspections aren’t being done properly, that’s enough to establish this “should have known” knowledge and hold the owner liable.
Are Grubhub drivers considered invitees on private property in Georgia?
Yes, absolutely. Grubhub drivers and other delivery workers are considered “invitees” under Georgia law because they are on the property for a business purpose that benefits both parties. This means the property owner owes them the highest duty of care to keep the premises safe.
What kind of evidence is most important for a Grubhub driver injured in a fall?
The most critical evidence includes photos and videos of the hazard taken right after the fall, your medical records, statements from any witnesses, and a copy of an incident report if you filed one. This evidence is all aimed at proving what the hazardous condition was and that the property owner knew or should have known about it.
Does this ruling apply to residential property owners in Roswell as well as commercial ones?
Yes, the legal principles apply to both residential and commercial property owners in Georgia. While what’s considered a “reasonable” inspection might differ, a shopping mall has different needs than a single-family home, the fundamental duty to provide a safe environment for invitees is the same for all property types.
