Fimple v. Archer Ballroom Co.

35 N.W.2d 680, 150 Neb. 681, 1949 Neb. LEXIS 11
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 21, 1949
DocketNo. 32476
StatusPublished
Cited by41 cases

This text of 35 N.W.2d 680 (Fimple v. Archer Ballroom Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fimple v. Archer Ballroom Co., 35 N.W.2d 680, 150 Neb. 681, 1949 Neb. LEXIS 11 (Neb. 1949).

Opinion

Wenke, J.

Esther Fimple brought this action in the district court, for Douglas County against the Archer Ballroom Company of Nebraska, a corporation. The purpose of the action is to recover damages for personal injuries which she suffered while a patron in attendance at a public dance in the Chermot Ballroom in Omaha, which was given and conducted by the defendant. The basis of' the action is negligence. Plaintiff recovered a verdict and, from the overruling of its motion for new trial, defendant appeals.

Appellant’s first contention is that no actionable negligence was shown. In considering this question we apply to the record the rule announced in Remmenga v. Selk, ante p. 401, 34 N. W. 2d 757, and discuss the facts accordingly. This rule is as follows: “In testing the-sufficiency of evidence to support a verdict it must be considered in the light most favorable to the successful party, that is, every controverted fact must be resolved in his favor and he should have the benefit of every inference that can reasonably be deduced therefrom.”'

It is admitted that the appellant operates the Chermot Ballroom located at Twenty-sixth and Farnam Streets, in the city of Omaha and that on the evening of December 31, 1946, it gave and conducted a public dance-therein.

[683]*683A large crowd, approximately 1,500 people, attended the dance. A charge of $1.50 per person was made of everyone in attendance, including appellee. In addition to the dance floor the ballroom has booths which those in attendance may occupy. They are not reserved but are available to whoever occupies them first. The total seating space thus provided is somewhere between 1,200 and 1,300. These booths are generally constructed to accommodate four people, each booth consisting of a table and two benches, one on each side, with a partition wall in between. These partition walls are built so that when a patron is seated they come about to his shoulder.

The management had employees who served the patrons occupying these booths. For their convenience appellant sells, and these employees serve, bottled mix such as Coca Cola, Dr. Pepper, etc., together with glasses filled with ice.

A section of these booths is located east of the dance floor. That is the area herein involved. The booths in this area are located in tiers going up from the dance floor and running north and south.

Appellee, with her escort, came to the dánce about 9 p. m. There they met another couple who, by previous arrangement, had gone to the dance earlier and had occupied a booth in the area east of the dance floor. At that time the booth immediately to the south of theirs was occupied by a group of four young men.

These four young men were former students of the same high school in Omaha. They had all been in the service but were discharged therefrom. On this occasion they were getting together to renew their friendships and to meet friends who might be attending the dance.

After appellee arrived she did not dance but continuously occupied a seat in their booth. The couple with them danced and would, from time to time, return to the booth. She and her friends ordered some soft drinks but did not spike these drinks. In fact, appellee had [684]*684not drunk any intoxicating liquor before she came to the dance nor did she drink any after getting there. About 10 p. m. her escort left their booth. However, she remained therein until about 10:30 p. m., when she was injured just as she was leaving. This incident will be more fully set forth hereinafter.

When appellee arrived at the booth she and her friends were going to occupy, the four young men in the booth immediately to the south of theirs were intoxicated. After her arrival this group continued to buy mix and ice and spike these drinks with liquor. When spiked they would either drink them themselves or give them to others. As time passed they became more intoxicated. -They also became very boisterous in their conduct and language. This consisted of loud and profane language, scuffling among themselves and with others, breaking glasses, and, on one occasion, the throwing of a whisky bottle. Over this period, from 9 to 10:30 p. m., the conduct of these young men continuously became worse.

About 10:30 p. m. the appellee, being alone in her booth, started to leave. She got out of the booth but leaned over the table therein to pick up her purse. As she-leaned over the table she was hit on the right side of her nose by a bottle. This bottle was either tossed or thrown by one of the young men in the booth immediately to the south. This blow caused serious injuries. Appellee was taken to a hospital. The young men left the ballroom shortly thereafter.

It is true that appellant’s witnesses told quite a different story but it will not be necessary to here relate the facts they testified to as the conflict in the testimony was for the jurors and they decided it by their verdict.

With reference to the duty of proprietors of public places of amusement we have said: “One who operates a place of public amusement -or entertainment is held to a stricter accountability for injuries to patrons than owners of private premises generally; he is not the in[685]*685surer of the safety of patrons, but owes to them only what, under the particular circumstances, amounts to ordinary and reasonable care.” Welsh v. Jefferson County Agricultural Society, 121 Neb. 166, 236 N. W. 331. See, also, Emery v. Midwest Amusement & Realty Co., 125 Neb. 54, 248 N. W. 804, and Hughes v. Coniglio, 147 Neb. 829, 25 N. W. 2d 405.

In the case of Hughes v. Coniglio, supra, we went on to say: “The proprietor of a place of business who holds it out to the public for entry for his business purposes is subject to liability to members of the public while upon the premises for such a purpose for bodily harm caused to them by the accidental, negligent, or harmful acts of third persons, if the proprietor by the exercise of reasonable care could have discovered that such acts were being done or were about to be done, and could have protected the members of the public by controlling the conduct of the third persons or by giving a warning adequate to enable them to avoid harm.”

As stated in Southern Enterprises v. Marek, 68 S. W. 2d 384, and affirmed in Marek v. Southern Enterprises, 128 Tex. 377, 99 S. W. 2d 594: “* * * the defendant owed her the duty to exercise ordinary care to protect her from the wrongful acts of other patrons present provided defendant knew of such misconduct or had reasonable grounds to anticipate it.”

And in Moone v. Smith, 6 Ga. App. 649, 65 S. E. 712: “This duty was to use ordinary care and diligence to protect the plaintiff, while he was in the defendants’ place of business lawfully engaged, from injury, — injury either from the unsafe condition of the premises themselves, from their own conduct, or from that of their employees, or injury from any vicious or improper persons who were in the room either as customers or otherwise. The defendants had invited the plaintiff into their place of business, for his amusement and their benefit. The plaintiff had accepted the invitation of the defendants, and confided in their implied promise that [686]*686he would be protected while in this place of amusement controlled by them, in so far as they could protect him by the exercise of reasonable care and diligence.”

And in Quinn v. Smith Co., 57 F.

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Bluebook (online)
35 N.W.2d 680, 150 Neb. 681, 1949 Neb. LEXIS 11, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fimple-v-archer-ballroom-co-neb-1949.