Johnson v. Super 8 Lodge-Shreveport

92 So. 3d 519, 2012 WL 1414278, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 545
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 25, 2012
DocketNo. 47,081-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 92 So. 3d 519 (Johnson v. Super 8 Lodge-Shreveport) 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
Johnson v. Super 8 Lodge-Shreveport, 92 So. 3d 519, 2012 WL 1414278, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 545 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

DREW, J.

| jDarlene Johnson appeals a judgment granting Super 8 Lodge-Shreveport’s motion for summary judgment and dismissing her petition.

We affirm.

FACTS

In September of 2008, Darlene, her boyfriend, and her disabled father were guests at the Super 8 Lodge in Shreveport after having evacuated Lake Charles because of a hurricane.

The Super 8 Lodge offered two types of suites: a family suite and a Jacuzzi suite. The hotel apparently had six suites at the time, two of which were Jacuzzi suites. The family suites contained a king-size bed and a queen-size bed. The Jacuzzi suites contained a king-size bed and a Jacuzzi. The television in the Jacuzzi suites faced a small sofa and a Jacuzzi that was behind the sofa. The television was placed on a shelf in an entertainment center that was positioned at a 90° angle to the bed. In contrast, the entertainment centers in the family suites faced the king-size bed, but the televisions were apparently on a swivel.

Darlene, her father, and her boyfriend stayed in a Jacuzzi suite. Because she was unable to view the television from the bed, Darlene had asked several times that the entertainment center be moved, and the hotel’s maintenance man, Charles Johnson, complied with her requests. On the morning of September 12, Darlene attempted to turn the television on her own so that her father could see it from a hospital bed that was apparently next to the king-size bed. The television fell from the shelf and allegedly hit her in the face and knocked her to the ground.

[521]*52112Parlene filed suit against Super 8 Lodge-Shreveport. She amended her petition to add Merryton L.L.C. d/b/a Super 8 Lodge Shreveport as a defendant.

Merryton filed a motion for summary judgment in which it contended that no duty to Johnson was breached, the television did not present an unreasonable risk of harm, and the accident was not caused by the conduct of defendants. In support of its motion, Merryton submitted photos of the television in its cabinet, an excerpt from Darlene’s deposition, an EMT report, and Darlene’s medical records from her physician.

Darlene opposed the motion for summary judgment and filed a cross motion for summary judgment. She asserted that Merryton had breached the duty of care owed to her by allowing the television to rest unsecured in the cabinet, which created an unreasonable risk of harm to her. Darlene attached excerpts from the depositions of hotel employees Charles Johnson, Rita Harris, and Angie Ware to her memorandum in opposition to Merryton’s motion and in support of her own motion.

Merryton filed a reply memorandum in support of its motion for summary judgment and attached an excerpt from the deposition of Charles Johnson as well as photos of the suite.

The trial court granted Merryton’s motion for summary judgment and denied Darlene’s cross motion for summary judgment. The court noted that although Darlene alleged that the television presented an unreasonable risk of harm due to improper mounting to the cabinet, Darlene had stated that she did not know how it fell out of the cabinet. The court also noted that Rwhile Darlene argued that the placement of the television created an unreasonable risk of harm because it was foreseeable that guests would turn the television so they could watch it from bed, the couch was the intended location from which the television was to be viewed. The court further noted that while Darlene argued that other suites had different configurations and the Jacuzzi suite lacked a pull-out shelf with swivels for the television, the fact that an alternative existed did not render the hotel’s actions unreasonable, and the hotel had fulfilled any duty to provide higher than ordinary care when the hotel staff moved the television for Darlene on prior occasions.

The trial court concluded that because there was no evidence of a defect which presented an unreasonable risk of harm, Darlene could not prove the elements of her case by a preponderance of the evidence. The trial court further concluded that there was no evidence to suggest that a duty had been breached or that the accident was caused by the hotel.

DISCUSSION

A motion for summary judgment is a procedural device used when there is no genuine issue of material fact for all or part of the relief prayed for by a litigant. Samaha v. Rau, 2007-1726 (La.2/26/08), 977 So.2d 880. A summary judgment is reviewed on appeal de novo, with the appellate court using the same criteria that govern the trial court’s determination of whether summary judgment is appropriate, i.e., whether there is any genuine issue of material fact, and whether the mov-ant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id.

14A motion for summary judgment will be granted if 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 the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. La. C.C.P. art. 966(B).

[522]*522The burden of proof on a motion for summary judgment is set forth in La. C.C.P. art. 966(C)(2):

The burden of proof remains with the movant. However, if the movant will not bear the burden of proof at trial on the matter that is before the court on the motion for summary judgment, the movant’s burden on the motion does not require him to negate all essential elements of the adverse party’s claim, action, or defense, but rather to point out to the court that there is an absence of factual support for one or more elements essential to the adverse party’s claim, action, or defense. Thereafter, if the adverse party fails to produce factual support sufficient to establish that he will be able to satisfy his evidentiary burden of proof at trial, there is no genuine issue of material fact.

This provision initially places the burden of producing evidence at the hearing on the motion for summary judgment on the mover, who can ordinarily meet that burden by submitting affidavits or by pointing out the lack of factual support for an essential element in the opponent’s case. Samaha v. Rau, supra; Wright v. Louisiana Power & Light, 2006-1181 (La.3/9/07), 951 So.2d 1058. At that point, the party who bears the burden of persuasion at trial must come forth with evidence (affidavits or discovery responses) which demonstrates that he or she will be able to meet the burden at trial. Samaha v. Rau, supra; Wright v. Louisiana Power & Light, supra.

| ¡^Despite the legislative mandate that summary judgments are now favored, factual inferences reasonably drawn from the evidence must be construed in favor of the party opposing the motion, and all doubt must be resolved in the opponent’s favor. Willis v. Medders, 2000-2507 (La.12/8/00), 775 So.2d 1049.

A hotel owes a duty to its patrons to exercise reasonable and ordinary care including maintaining the premises in a reasonably safe and suitable condition. Spencer v. Red River Lodging, 37,980 (La.App.2d Cir.2/5/04), 865 So.2d 337. Although the keepers of inns, lodging houses, or restaurants are not the insurers of the safety of them guests, they are under an obligation to exercise, at least, ordinary or reasonable care to keep them from injury. Id.

An individual is responsible for the damage caused by things in his custody. La. C.C. art. 2317.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
92 So. 3d 519, 2012 WL 1414278, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 545, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-super-8-lodge-shreveport-lactapp-2012.