Michelle Lewis v. Golden Nugget Lake Charles, LLC

Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided July 17, 2024·No. CW-0023-0778·Unknown

Opinion

STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT

23-778

MICHELLE LEWIS VERSUS GOLDEN NUGGET LAKE CHARLES, LLC

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ON APPLICATION FOR SUPERVISORY WRIT FROM THE FOURTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF CALCASIEU, NO. 2015-3773, DIVISION D HONORABLE ROBERT L. WYATT, DISTRICT JUDGE

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D. KENT SAVOIE

JUDGE

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Court composed of D. Kent Savoie, Van H. Kyzar, Candyce G. Perret, Jonathan W. Perry, and Guy E. Bradberry, Judges.

WRIT GRANTED AND MADE PEREMPTORY;

SUMMARY JUDGMENT RENDERED.

PERRET, J., dissents and would deny the writ application. BRADBERRY, J., would deny the writ.

M. Paul Skrabanek Pierce Skrabanek, PLLC 24 Greenway Plaza, Suite 500 Houston, TX 77046 (832) 690-7000 COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF/RESPONDENT Michelle Lewis

Christopher P. Ieyoub Jacinda L. Denison Plauche, Smith & Nieset, LLC 1123 Pithon Street Lake Charles, LA 70601 (318) 436-0522 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/RELATOR:

Golden Nugget Lake Charles, LLC

SAVOIE, Judge.

Defendant-Relator, Golden Nugget Lake Charles, LLC (“Golden Nugget”), seeks supervisory writs from the trial court’s denial of its motion for summary judgment. On April 11, 2024, this court issued an order stating, “[i]n keeping with La.Code Civ.P. art. 966(H), we grant this writ for the limited purpose of briefing and oral argument.” The order further gave the parties an opportunity to submit additional briefs and request oral argument by certain deadlines stated therein. The parties did not request oral argument or otherwise submit additional briefing by the stated deadlines, so we now consider the merits.

For the reasons that follow, we grant the writ on the merits, make it peremptory, and render summary judgment dismissing Plaintiff’s claims against Golden Nugget.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND This case involves an alleged slip and fall that occurred on April 24, 2015, at Saltgrass Steakhouse (“Saltgrass”) located in the Golden Nugget casino in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

On September 18, 2015, Plaintiff, Michelle Lewis (“Lewis”), filed suit and named Golden Nugget as a Defendant. She alleged in her petition that “[a]s [she] was walking to the restroom, she slipped and fell on a waxy, glossy, slick substance on the floor” and Golden Nugget is liable for her injuries and damages in accordance with La.R.S. 9:2800.6. Golden Nugget filed a motion for summary judgment on July 9, 2019, and the trial court denied it.

On October 2, 2023, Golden Nugget filed a second motion for summary judgment. It argued that there was an absence of factual support establishing the existence of an unreasonably dangerous condition, Golden Nugget’s actual or

constructive knowledge of an unreasonably dangerous condition, and/or Golden Nugget’s failure to exercise reasonable care. In support of its motion, Golden Nugget submitted Lewis’s deposition testimony taken December 23, 2015.

During her deposition, Lewis testified that on the day of the incident, she was eating lunch at Saltgrass between noon and 1:00 p.m. with her sister and father in celebration of her birthday. Lewis explained that they were seated at a table that was located past the entryway of the restaurant, to the left, and approximately the second or third table in front of the bar. Lewis stated that she and her party sat at their table for about thirty minutes to an hour eating lunch and talking and that she did not consume any alcoholic beverages during that time. She testified that after she finished eating, she got up from the table to go to the restroom, which was located outside of Saltgrass, but inside the casino’s premises. She said that as she proceeded towards the entryway of the restaurant, she “just slipped.” Lewis explained:

I just -- I lost balance. I don’t know what happened. . . I tried to catch myself from falling. So, I tried to put my hands down and that’s when the two managers came and asked me was I okay and . . . they helped me. And then . . . he himself even asked if he could look at my shoe you know. They were looking around on the floor. And as I began to get up, I looked and I did see the waxy, glossiness on the floor.

Lewis stated that, at the time of the incident, she was wearing a collared shirt, jeans, and “slide-in sandals” that had wedge heels between three and four inches high. She explained that after she got up after falling, she “still proceeded limping on to the restroom,” and then went back to the table with her sister and father after she left the restroom.

Lewis testified that the flooring in the area where she fell was “wooden laminate.” She said she did not recall any liquid on the floor in the area where she fell and that she did not notice any wax or liquid of any type on her clothing when

she stood up. When asked if there “was any residue or any type of liquid or element that [she] could find on [her] clothes or on the bottom of [her] shoes that indicated there was something on the floor that caused [her] to fall[,]” Lewis responded, “No[.]” Lewis also said that she did not find any kind of substance on the floor that caused her to fall. Lewis’s deposition also contains the following:

Q. Tell me what you felt when you put your hand on the floor as [you were] trying to get up.

....

A. Because I used my hands to help me up. It was kind of like the floor looked glossy and slippery.

Q. And tell me what that felt like on your hand.

A. Just slimy, like soft.

....

Q. Ms. Lewis, when you said you – what you felt on the floor, was it a substance on the floor or was it just the way that your hand moved on that was –

A. The way that my hand moved.

Q. So, was there any residue or . . . anything that you felt in your hands itself that indicated . . . that there was something on the floor?

A. I did not notice that at the time because I was just in shock . . . .

....

Q. Like for example, did you notice if there was any kind of like a wax or something like a liquid or a cleaner that you would have felt on the floor itself as opposed to just the floor being able to have your hand move across? Was there anything that you felt on your hand itself that indicated wax or a liquid or something to that effect?

A. I guess being slippery. Because honestly, if I could have prevented myself from falling with my hands or without hitting the floor totally, then I probably could have done that. But like I said, because of, I guess

based upon [what] the waitress said[1] as well [as] it being glossy and, you know, she said it’s the way they make the floor. So, with my impression, I’m assuming because it’s laminate and it’s wood that it was probably buffed and overwaxed maybe.

....

Q. . . . Did you find any wax or any kind of thing to indicate that it had been overwaxed on your clothing at any point in time?

A. I cannot recall if I did. I cannot.

Lewis also testified that after she went to the restroom, she returned to the table inside of Saltgrass “more than likely” utilizing the same path as when she left to go the restroom, and that she did not have any problems walking on the floor. She also stated that she did not have any problems walking on the floor when she initially walked to the table when her party was seated, or when she and her party left the restaurant after paying their bill. Lewis also said she did not notice anyone else having problems walking on the floor in the area where she fell.

In opposition to Golden Nugget’s motion, Lewis relied upon her own deposition testimony and also submitted the January 8, 2020 deposition of Jon Ramirez (“Ramirez”). Ramirez was the general manager of Saltgrass at the time of the incident. Ramirez testified that Lewis fell:

[R]ight next to where the wine case and the carpet[,] kind of where that threshold is . . . she was exiting the building, she was heading back out to the casino. . . . As she was stepping from the carpet onto the wood, I can’t speak to any certainty if it was right there, she took another step, but that’s were we noticed her falling and everybody kind of called to attention in that area.

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