Scherer v. PNK (Bossier City), Inc.

112 So. 3d 931, 2013 WL 1136265, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 515
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided March 20, 2013·No. No. 47,901-CA·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

CARAWAY, J.

Lin this trip and fall case, the trial court granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment. Plaintiffs fell in defendant’s casino at a place where the flooring changed from a concrete ramp to a tiled portion of the building, with a slight rise or [932]*932bump of approximately one-half inch. At the time of their fall, one plaintiff was pushing the other who was seated on a walker which contained a fold-down seat. Our review of the record does not reveal disputed facts concerning the bump in the floor, which we find does not present an unreasonable risk of harm. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

Facts

The plaintiffs, Deborah Constantino (“Constantino”) and her elderly mother, Lexine Scherer (“Scherer”), were overnight guests of the Boomtown hotel and casino (“Boomtown”). On October 31, 2007, the plaintiffs were traveling across the indoor walkway that connects Boom-town’s casino to its hotel lobby. Scherer used the aid of a push walker to ambulate. The walker has four wheels and a seat that folds down. On this occasion, when Scherer became tired, she sat down on the walker while Constantino pushed her up the incline toward the hotel lobby. Neither one of them had ever used the walker in this way.

The record indicates that plaintiffs had previously traversed the walkway three times during their stay. At the time of the accident, when they reached the threshold that separates the flooring between the casino and hotel lobby, the plaintiffs allege that the wheels of the walker hit a | ¡¡metal transition strip that connected the two floors, jolting them forward and causing both to fall to the floor. While Constanti-no was able to get up from the fall, her mother remained motionless on the floor until the paramedics arrived. Both plaintiffs allege that they sustained injuries as a result of this accident. Upon the arrival of the paramedics, a picture of the accident site was taken with Scherer lying on a stretcher extending across the transition strip at the place of the irregularity in the floor.

On October 30, 2008, the plaintiffs filed a petition for damages. Thereafter, the defendants filed a motion for summary judgment. Both parties submitted the plaintiffs’ depositions and the plaintiffs’ expert’s deposition. Additionally, the photographs of the accident site and walker were filed. The defendant also submitted the affidavits of two Boomtown employees who reported that the flooring had remained unaltered since it was constructed in 2002 and that no prior tripping accidents had occurred.

Scherer stated in her deposition that upon the “hit, I went over backwards.” From Constantino’s account, she stated that “all of a sudden, she got jolted, and when she got jolted, the wheel — that thing was going backwards.” While the plaintiffs testified that they did not see a defect in the floor, Constantino admitted that her line of view was blocked by her mother. According to Constantino, her mother had never ridden in the walker before, and she will never do so again after this accident.

Knox Tumlin (“Tumlin”) was qualified as the plaintiffs’ expert in this case. Tumlin reviewed the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) regulations, the site, the current condition of the construction, and |sphotographs of the accident scene, but he did not interview the plaintiffs or examine the walker. Tumlin described the two different defects in the location where Scherer and Constantino fell as follows:

The poured concrete surface has some irregularities, pattern in it, so that there are depressions in the surface. When the tile surface was placed on top of it and the transition strip, in the area where the lady is shown to be mobilized and believe to have fallen, the transition strip cuts across this irregularity. This creates two problems. First of all, the ADA Codes require that flooring surfaces in the path of travel and accessible [933]*933route be hard, stable, and regular. The surface is not — the surface is not regular in that location in relation to the rest of the floor transition.... Secondly, at the part where it is regular where it is believed that she has fallen, there is an increased depth where a wheel from a wheelchair, a cane, or someone’s foot would hit, causing a misstep, a jolting of a chair.

Tumlin did not measure the irregular depth (the “bump”) at the placement of the transition strip. He stated that the transition strip and floor tile would have complied with the ADA Code had the non-tiled surface been regular all the way across. Yet, he identified an irregular place in that surface. According to him, the concrete slab was “poured with a depression pattern in it. A visual, a — something that somebody thought looked good.” He believed that it “represents an impediment to people who require — because of disability an ADA accessible route.” While Tumlin testified that a wheelchair would have jolted at this location, he could not say whether it would tip and cause the occupant to fall. At one point, he estimated the irregular dip in the non-tiled surface as “less than a quarter” inch. However, he also indicated at another point in his testimony that the overall rise between the two surfaces may have been one-half inch or more. Without an accurate measurement, his testimony is not clear.

^Without being provided a definition of unreasonably dangerous, Tumlin refused to testify to more than that the condition presents a hazard to the “public that requires accessible access” by violating Article 4.5 and Section 303.3 of the ADA. Lastly, Tumlin testified that he considered the condition a design implementation problem rather than a construction problem.

In granting the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, the trial court placed emphasis on the number of people who had traversed the transition strip since 2002. In the ten years since the walkway was constructed, the plaintiffs could not point to a single accident despite the multiple people, presumably some with wheelchairs, walkers, and crutches, who had encountered this defect. The plaintiffs now appeal the trial court’s dismissal of their claims.

Discussion

The summary judgment procedure is designed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action, except those disallowed by Article 969. The procedure is favored and shall be construed to accomplish these ends. La. C.C. art. 966 A(2). The judgment sought shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions, 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. art. 966 B(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 |sfor 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. La. C.C. art. 966 C(2).

We review the grant of a motion for summary judgment de novo. Schroeder v. [934]*934

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Scherer v. PNK (Bossier City), Inc., 112 So. 3d 931, 2013 WL 1136265, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 515 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

112 So. 3d 931 (Scherer v. PNK (Bossier City), Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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