Manahan v. Yacht Haven Hotel

821 F. Supp. 1110, 1992 WL 486306, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22783
CourtDistrict Court, Virgin Islands
DecidedAugust 14, 1992
DocketCiv. A. No. 1986/567
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 821 F. Supp. 1110 (Manahan v. Yacht Haven Hotel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, Virgin Islands primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Manahan v. Yacht Haven Hotel, 821 F. Supp. 1110, 1992 WL 486306, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22783 (vid 1992).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

GILES, District Judge.

During a trip to St. Thomas in February, 1986, Bridget Manahan was physically assaulted by an unknown male who attempted to snatch her purse. She lost an eye as a result. She brought suit against the Yacht Haven Hotel and MLT Vacations alleging that their negligence was a proximate cause of her injuries. On January 10, 1992, after consideration of briefs and oral argument, summary judgment was granted in favor of defendants. 821 F.Supp. 1105.1 Before the court are plaintiffs motion for reconsideration, the defendants’ answers, and the parties’ replies thereto. For the reasons which follow, plaintiffs motion is DENIED.

DISCUSSION

In response to the defendants’ summary judgment motions, plaintiff argued that she had a valid negligence claim pursuant to Restatement (Second) of Torts § 314A, which provides that “[a]n innkeeper is under a duty to its guests to take reasonable action to protect them against unreasonable risk of physical harm.” See Restatement (Second) of Tort § 314A (1965). However, this court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants after finding that plaintiff failed to produce any evidence showing that they breached a duty owed to her as a hotel patron. Specifically, plaintiff failed to show that defendants had actual knowledge of, or a duty to learn about, unusual crime conditions existing within or immediately outside the hotel.

In moving for reconsideration, plaintiff contends that the court erred in applying only Section 314A to her filed claims. She now argues that Restatement (Second) of Torts § 311, should also be applied. In relevant parts, that statute dictates that “(1) one who negligently gives false information to another is subject to liability for physical harm caused by action taken by the other in reasonable reliance upon such information [1112]*1112...” Restatement (Second) of Torts § 311 (1965).2

Pursuant to Section 311, plaintiff seeks to hold the defendants liable for White-house’s statement that the street route between the hotel and the restaurant was “well lit” and, therefore, “safe”. She argues that since Whitehouse was concierge at the hotel, she relied upon Whitehouse’s knowledge of the area to decide whether the street route between the hotel and the restaurant remained safe to walk.

However, what remains key under a Section 311 analysis is that plaintiff must have reasonably relied upon such a statement, and that reliance must be the proximate cause of her injuries. On the night in question, plaintiff could not have reasonably relied upon Whitehouse’s statement, since she admits to discerning that the street route between the hotel and the restaurant was not “well lit” before encountering the dangers presented therein.

In plaintiffs affidavit dated 2/27/92, she states:

Indeed, as I discovered to my detriment, the roadway was not well lit at all, and was, in fact, after the sun went down, extremely dark and virtually devoid of any ai'tificial illumination. Moreover, the February sky in the Caribbean lends very little natural light at nights, thus making vast portions of the roadway at that time virtually pitch black.

Manahan Affidavit, Feb. 27, 1992, p. 4.

Manahan errs arguing that the defendants are for her injuries under Section 311. For one may not “blindly act on a statement in disregard of an opportunity to learn the truth when by the exercise of ordinary attention he would have learned it.” W.H. Hobbs Supply Co. v. Ernst, 270 Wis. 166, 170, 70 N.W.2d 615 (1955), quoted in Williams v. Rank & Son Buick, 44 Wis.2d 239, 170 N.W.2d 807, 811 (1969). The recipient of a fraudulent statement is “required to use his senses, and cannot recover if he blindly relies upon a misrepresentation the falsity of which would be patent to him if he had utilized his opportunity to make a cursory examination or investigation.” Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 541, Comment a (1965).

Plaintiff now submits a second supplementary affidavit wherein she states that only about “the last half block of the path from Havensight to Yacht Haven” lacked illumination, in contrast to the earlier affidavit in which she recalled “vast portions of the roadway ... [as being] virtually pitch black.” Nonetheless, it remains true that plaintiff admits to knowingly walking into the darkness.

In plaintiffs most recent affidavit she states:

In terms of distance, the route from the entry way to the Yacht Haven parking lot to the entrance to the Havensight Mall was approximately .25 miles, or roughly three city blocks. The area that I have been describing above that was pitch-black is approximately the last half block of the path from Havensight to Yacht Haven. Thus, by the time I reached the point along the pathway where there was virtually no illumination, it was more than two blocks back to Havensight Mall and only approximately half a block to the entry way to the Yacht Haven parking lot.

Manahan Second Supplementary Affidavit, July 7, 1992, p. 3.

By her testimony, plaintiff had specific knowledge that the route that night was not well lit for whatever reason.3 Therefore, for [1113]*1113one to commence and continue walking into the “pitch blackness” solely on the strength of an alleged statement made two days prior that “the route is well lit” is not reasonable reliance as a matter of law, particularly, where it can be seen, literally, that the statement is incorrect and unreliable. What’s more, plaintiff has not submitted any evidence to show that she did not have alternative means of getting back to the hotel.

Plaintiff chose to travel the route despite her realization that Whitehouse’s statement that “the route is well lit” was incorrect. Once plaintiff encountered the dark area of the street route, she admits noting the distance of walk left to reach the hotel and the distance of walk back to the restaurant. Pri- or to continuing her walk back to the hotel, she necessarily weighed the danger of walking the rest of the way in darkness against the reasonableness of walking back in the light to the restaurant to call a cab. What she chose to do at that point was not a matter of another’s negligence but one of her own prerogative.

Moreover, plaintiff had previously been warned to take cabs at night and indeed followed the routine of traveling by taxicab, taking them even for short distances. For example, plaintiff took taxicabs for short distances while in the company of two males and one female companion just the night before her attack. Manahan Deposition p. 52, lines 13-18; Hauth Deposition p. 123, lines 7-13, 17-22.

Plaintiff also alleges that she understood Whitehouse’s opinion to be that the street route between the hotel and the restaurant was “well lit” and “safe”. She argues, therefore, that although she discerned that the last fifth of the street route was not “well lit”, based upon Whitehouse statement, she continued to believe that the path was still safe to walk. Plaintiff, however, has adduced no evidence or logical reasoning which reasonably support such a conclusion. Indeed, she admits of being conscious of the admonition of general crime in St.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
821 F. Supp. 1110, 1992 WL 486306, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22783, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/manahan-v-yacht-haven-hotel-vid-1992.