DARREN JORDAN v. KIMPTON HOTEL AND RESTAURANT GROUP, LLC

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJune 28, 2023
DocketA23A0212
StatusPublished

This text of DARREN JORDAN v. KIMPTON HOTEL AND RESTAURANT GROUP, LLC (DARREN JORDAN v. KIMPTON HOTEL AND RESTAURANT GROUP, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
DARREN JORDAN v. KIMPTON HOTEL AND RESTAURANT GROUP, LLC, (Ga. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

FIFTH DIVISION MCFADDEN, P. J., BROWN and LAND, JJ.

NOTICE: Motions for reconsideration must be physically received in our clerk’s office within ten days of the date of decision to be deemed timely filed. https://www.gaappeals.us/rules

June 28, 2023

In the Court of Appeals of Georgia A23A0212. JORDAN v. KIMPTON HOTEL AND RESTAURANT GROUP, LLC et al.

MCFADDEN, Presiding Judge.

After he was forcibly evicted from a hotel room on April 26, 2018, Darren

Jordan brought this contract and tort action against Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant

Group, LLC and Six Continents Hotels, Inc., collectively doing business as The

Kimpton Brice Savannah (hereinafter, “Kimpton”) and operating as part of the IHG

group of hotels. The trial court granted summary judgment to Kimpton on all of

Jordan’s claims, and Jordan appeals.

Jordan bases his various claims on his assertion that he had a right to be in the

hotel room at the time of his eviction, either because his reservation extended until

April 27 or because he was entitled to a late check-out time on April 26 under the terms of an IHG hotel customer loyalty program. As detailed below, we find that

Jordan’s reservation ended on April 26 pursuant to the unambiguous terms of his

written reservation agreement with Kimpton, which controls over any prior oral

agreement to the contrary. But we find that a genuine issue of material fact exists as

to whether Jordan’s membership in the loyalty program permitted him to remain in

the hotel room past the 11 a.m. check-out time set forth in that agreement. So to the

extent Jordan’s contract claim asserts a breach of the terms of the loyalty program,

we reverse the grant of summary judgment on that claim.

Given our conclusion that there is evidence that Jordan was entitled to occupy

the room at the time of his eviction, we also reverse the grant of summary judgment

on his claims for a violation of OCGA § 43-21-3.1; invasion of privacy; and false

imprisonment. As to each of these claims, Kimpton’s argument for summary

judgment presumes that Jordan was not entitled to occupy the room. We also reverse

the grant of summary judgment on Jordan’s claim for punitive damages, which is

derivative of these substantive claims.

But we affirm the grant of summary judgment on Jordan’s claims for assault

and battery based on the allegedly tortious actions of law enforcement officers who

2 responded to a call from the hotel. He has not pointed to evidence that would support

the imposition of vicarious liability upon Kimpton for the officers’ actions.

We also affirm the grant of summary judgment on Jordan’s claim for

intentional infliction of emotional distress, because he has not pointed to evidence

showing that he experienced the type of distress required for such a claim. And we

affirm the grant of summary judgment on Jordan’s negligence claim, which he seeks

to reverse solely on the ground that it was “wrong for any reason.”

Finally, we affirm the grant of summary judgment to Kimpton on Jordan’s

claim for promissory estoppel because Jordan has abandoned that claim on appeal,

having made no argument and cited no authority in support of it.

1. Facts and procedural history.

A trial court may grant summary judgment when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. OCGA § 9-11-56 (c). We review the grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment de novo, and we must view the evidence, and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, in the light most favorable to the nonmovant.

Courtland Hotel v. Salzer, 330 Ga. App. 264 (767 SE2d 750) (2014).

3 Much of the evidence in this case comes from Jordan’s deposition testimony

and his verified complaint. See Shadder v. Holland, 350 Ga. App. 191, 191 & n. 1

(828 SE2d 418) (2019) (a plaintiff may point to allegations in a verified complaint to

oppose summary judgment where the verification is made on the plaintiff’s personal

knowledge). To the extent Jordan’s testimony and verified allegations conflict, we

construe them according to the rule in Prophecy Corp. v. Charles Rossignol, Inc., 256

Ga. 27 (343 SE2d 680) (1986), under which a party’s self-contradictory testimony is

construed against him.

So viewed, the evidence shows that on or around April 16, 2018, Jordan

booked the hotel room over the telephone. He told the reservation agent that he

wanted to stay at the hotel from April 20 through April 27, and the agent informed

Jordan that he had made a reservation for that period. But the written confirmation

of Jordan’s reservation that was sent by email to Jordan (hereinafter, the “reservation

agreement”) did not cover a stay through April 27. Instead, it stated that Jordan would

check out of the hotel one day earlier, on April 26, 2018 at 11 a.m. It also stated that

“[o]nly the reservation as entered into and confirmed by our system will be honored.”

When Jordan checked into the hotel on April 20, the front desk employee

informed him that his reservation was only through April 26. When Jordan replied

4 that this was a mistake and that he intended to stay until April 27, the front desk

employee stated that it would not be a problem to extend the reservation and that he

would fix it. From this conversation, Jordan assumed that his reservation had been

extended until April 27.

But later during his stay at the hotel, other hotel personnel, including the

assistant manager, informed Jordan that his reservation ended on April 26 and that

he must check out on that day. Jordan attempted several times to resolve this issue

both with hotel personnel and the IHG customer support line, without success. In fact,

a customer support representative told Jordan that she could have fixed his

reservation problem but was not going to do so because he had been rude to her.

Late in the evening of April 25, a front desk employee again told Jordan that

he was scheduled to check out of the hotel the following day. She refused to extend

his reservation. Jordan replied that he would not be checking out on that day.

Around 11 a.m. on April 26, the hotel’s assistant manager knocked on Jordan’s

door and told Jordan that he must check out that morning. Jordan replied through the

door that he would not check out. Understanding that there were rooms available that

evening, Jordan told the assistant manager through the door to charge another night’s

stay to the credit card he had on file. At some point during this exchange, the assistant

5 manager threatened to call the police. Jordan then called the IHG customer support

line to inform them that the hotel was threatening to call the police to remove him

from his room, even though he was a person with elite status in the customer loyalty

program.

Shortly after noon, as Jordan was on the phone with the customer support line,

law enforcement officers arrived at his room, along with the assistant manager and

other hotel personnel. The officers pounded on his door, demanded that he let them

in, then surrounded him as hotel employees blocked the doorway. The officers and

hotel employees told Jordan that he must leave the room, but Jordan refused. Jordan

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Related

Wallace v. Bock
620 S.E.2d 820 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2005)
Prophecy Corp. v. Charles Rossignol, Inc.
343 S.E.2d 680 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1986)
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549 S.E.2d 454 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2001)
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469 S.E.2d 255 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1996)
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Ghodrati v. Stearnes
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Ambling Management Co., LLC v. Miller
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Agnes Scott College, Inc. v. Hartley.
816 S.E.2d 689 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2018)
Georgia-Pacific, LLC v. Fields
748 S.E.2d 407 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2013)
Anthem Cos. v. Wills
823 S.E.2d 781 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2019)
Shadder v. Holland
828 S.E.2d 418 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2019)
Courtland Hotel, LLC v. Salzer
767 S.E.2d 750 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2014)
The ANTHEM COMPANIES, INC. v. CHERYL WILLS
305 Ga. 313 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2019)

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DARREN JORDAN v. KIMPTON HOTEL AND RESTAURANT GROUP, LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/darren-jordan-v-kimpton-hotel-and-restaurant-group-llc-gactapp-2023.