Hurst v. Hilton Hotels Corp.

131 So. 3d 387, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0872, 2013 WL 6923714, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2658
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 18, 2013
DocketNo. 2013-CA-0872
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 131 So. 3d 387 (Hurst v. Hilton Hotels Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hurst v. Hilton Hotels Corp., 131 So. 3d 387, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0872, 2013 WL 6923714, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2658 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

JAMES F. McKAY III, Chief Judge.

_JjIn this personal injury action involving an elevator door, the plaintiffs, Shelia and Randall Hurst, appeal the trial court’s granting of summary judgment in favor of defendants, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Fred Sawyer, Paul Buckley and Kevyn Lewis. The plaintiffs also appeal the trial court’s maintaining of a peremptory exception of prescription in favor of defendant Schindler Elevator Corporation. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Shelia and Randall Hurst allege that they were injured on February 22, 2005, when an elevator door at the New Orleans Hilton Riverside malfunctioned and closed on them while they were exiting the elevator side by side. On February 6, 2006, Mr. and Mrs. Hurst filed a petition for damages against the Hilton Hotels Corporation. On April 12, 2006, the plaintiffs filed a first supplemental and amended petition naming Hilton employees, Fred Sawyer, Paul Buckley, and Kevyn Lewis, as additional defendants. On July 1, 2009, the plaintiffs filed a second supplemental and amending petition naming International Rivercenter |2Lessee, LLC, d/b/a New Orleans Hilton Riverside, Schindler Elevator Corporation, Lerch Bates, Inc. and Pratt Landry Associates, Inc. as additional defendants. On August 5, 2009, the plaintiffs amended their petition for the final time and added ACE American Insurance Company, Hilton’s insurer, as a defendant.

On October 12, 2009, the Hilton defendants re-urged a motion for summary judgment previously filed on May 27, 2009. Schindler also filed a peremptory exception of prescription on July 27, 2009. The Hilton defendants asserted that the plaintiffs failed to come forward with evidence demonstrating a defect in the elevator which presented an unreasonable risk of the doors pinning exiting passengers between the closing doors which the defendant knew of or should have known. In support of their motion for summary judgment, the defendants produced the affida[389]*389vits of former hotel manager Paul Buckley, hotel manager Fred Sawyer, hotel security officer Kevyn Lewis, and assistant director of hotel property operations Roger Lawson. In addition, the defendants provided a report generated by Lerch Bates, Inc., the company that performs the hotel’s annual elevator system audit and inspection. The plaintiffs opposed the motion for summary judgment with the affidavit of their expert, Dr. Jack W. Sparks. The trial court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment. The plaintiffs appealed that judgment to this Court.

This Court found that Dr. Sparks’s affidavit created genuine issues of material fact as to whether the elevator was functioning normally at the time of the alleged incident and whether the defendants knew or should have known of an|3alleged elevator defect which could have caused the elevator to malfunction so as to pin guests between the doors and cause injuries, thus precluding summary judgment. Hurst v. Hilton Hotels Corp., 2010-1088 (La.App. 4 Cir. 6/15/11), 72 So.3d 353. However, this Court stated that Dr. Sparks’s affidavit did not indicate specifically what the defect was. Id. This court reversed the judgment of the trial court and remanded the matter for further proceedings. Id.

After the case was remanded to the trial court, the Hilton defendants deposed the plaintiffs’ expert, Dr. Sparks, on January 30, 2012 and February 29, 2012. Based on the answers given by Dr. Sparks during his deposition, the defendants questioned his qualifications as an expert in the field of elevator operation and maintenance.1 On July 5, 2012, the Hilton defendants filed a Daubert/Foret motion to strike the affidavit of Dr. Sparks and to exclude his testimony. At the same time, the Hilton defendants also filed a second motion for summary judgment. On December 6, 2012, the trial court held a hearing on both of these motions as well as on Schindler’s peremptory exception of prescription. On December 13, 2012, the trial court granted the Hilton defendants’ Daubert/Foret motion to strike the affidavit of Dr. Sparks and to exclude his testimony. That same day the trial court also granted the Hilton defendants’ second motion for summary judgment. On December 18, 2012, the trial court granted Schindler’s ^peremptory exception of prescription. It is from these judgments that the plaintiffs now appeal.

DISCUSSION

On appeal, the plaintiffs raise the following assignments of error: 1) the trial court erred in granting the Hilton defendants’ motion for summary judgment, particularly in light of this Court’s prior opinion on the same issue; 2) the trial court erred in disqualifying Dr. Sparks as an expert for the plaintiffs and/or refusing to permit the plaintiffs to present another expert; and 3) the trial court erred in granting Schindler Elevator Corporation’s exception of prescription, based on Schindler’s status as a joint obligor with Hilton.

We will first address the plaintiffs’ second assignment of error as it has a direct impact on their first assignment of error. In its judgment striking Dr. Sparks as an expert, the trial court held that he “lacks the specialized knowledge in the field of elevator engineering to assist the jury and that his opinions lack the reliability to be relevant or admissible.” [390]*390Louisiana Code of Evidence Article 702 requires that an expert be “qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education” and possess “scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge” that can “assist the trier of fact.” State v. Foret, 93-0246 (La.11/30/93), 628 So.2d 1116. In performing the gate-keeping function required by Foret, through its adoption of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993), the trial court has to determine | ¿whether a purported expert can offer an opinion with a “reliable basis in the knowledge and experience of his discipline.” Foret, 628 So.2d at 1121-1122.

In the instant case, Dr. Sparks acknowledged that his opinions were his subjective beliefs. Dr. Sparks did not employ the scientific method, nor was he able to identify the methodology or scientific basis his conclusions were based on. He also did not know of any industry publication that supported his conclusions. Furthermore and perhaps most importantly, he stated that he was not aware of any reason that the Hilton defendants would have known in advance that the elevator door could perform as alleged. Therefore, based on the Daubert standard, we find no error in the trial court’s striking of Dr. Sparks’s affidavit and excluding him as an expert witness.

Appellate courts review summary judgments de novo, using the same criteria that govern the trial court’s consideration. The summary judgment procedure is now favored, and the standard for summary judgment is well-established in Louisiana. See La. C.C.P. art. 966; Magnon v. Collins, 98-2822 (La.7/7/99), 739 So.2d 191; Two Feathers Enterprises, Inc. v. First Nat’l Bank of Commerce, 98-0465 (La.App. 4 Cir. 10/14/98), 720 So.2d 398. A motion for summary judgment shall be granted when the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact, and that mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. La. C.C.P. art. 966; Gallina v. Hero Lands Co., 2003-0331 (La.App. 4 Cir.

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131 So. 3d 387, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0872, 2013 WL 6923714, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2658, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hurst-v-hilton-hotels-corp-lactapp-2013.