Snapp Hotel & Realty Co. v. Elbert

108 F.2d 661, 1940 U.S. App. LEXIS 4109
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 8, 1940
DocketNo. 11456
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 108 F.2d 661 (Snapp Hotel & Realty Co. v. Elbert) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Snapp Hotel & Realty Co. v. Elbert, 108 F.2d 661, 1940 U.S. App. LEXIS 4109 (8th Cir. 1940).

Opinion

VAN VALKENBURGH, Circuit Judge.

This appeal is from judgments rendered against appellant in two consolidated cases: One, by appellee Ruby Elbert, to recover damages for personal injuries sustained when she fell on the floor of the Turkish Bathroom operated by appellant in its hotel building at Excelsior Springs, Missouri; and the other, by her husband, appellee Herbert S. Elbert, for loss of con[662]*662sortium, doctor’s bills and medical expenses resulting from said injuries to his wife. At the trial a jury was waived and the court, making findings of fact as a basis for conclusions of law, rendered judgment in favor of appellee, Ruby Elbert, in the sum of $5,000, and in ’favor of the husband in the sum of $2,500.

September 21, 1935, Mrs. Elbert, then a guest at the Snapp Hotel, went to the Turkish Bathrooms in the basement of the hotel building for the purpose of obtaining a hot sulphur bath. From the record it appears that in a room provided for that purpose she disrobed and was summoned to an individual bathroom where she was placed in a hot bath of saline sulphur water by one of the attendants, a servant of appellant. She remained in this bath for a period variously stated as ten or twelve minutes. At the end of that- period she was assisted from the bath-tub and a sheet was placed about her body by the attendant, who then guided her to the door of this bathroom. The attendant then preceded her to another room, about six feet farther on, which contained a table or slab upon which Mrs. Elbert was to receive a salt and soap rub as a completion of her bath. Proceeding alone, after the attendant left her, Mrs. Elbert fell and sustained the injuries for which these recoveries are sought.

The door of the smaller bathroom or booth in which Mrs. Elbert received the hot saline bath, and that of the room in which she was to receive the salt and soap rub, to which she was proceeding when she fell, are approximately six feet apart and situated on the same side of a central room of the bath house. This central room slopes slightly toward its center, where a drain is situated. The floor covering of this room is described as asphalt tile or composition tile, which has “non-slip characteristics”. In order to pass from her tub-room to the salt-slab room, it was necessary for Mrs. Elbert to pass through the door of the former and along and upon the floor of this central room for a distance of about six feet. She testifies that, after she had been for about twelve minutes in the tub of hot mineral water, she summoned Mrs. Marie Warner, her attendant, who assisted her from the tub, placed a sheet about her, falling from the shoulder, and guided her to the door of the room by placing one hand under and another over Mrs. Elbert’s arm about at the elbow. 'Arriving at the door, the attendant released appellant’s arm and went forward to prepare the slab room. Mrs. Elbert says she was not conscious of the fact that her arm had been released, took two and perhaps three steps forward over the floor of the ’central room toward the slab room, when her feet slipped from beneath her and she fell heavily, injuring her left arm and shoulder. She testifies that the floor was wet and that there was nothing upon it at that point, such as cloth, rubber, or other like substance, to prevent slipping; that she had taken baths in this hotel over a period of several years; that floor coverings such as sheets had always been provided, and that the attendant had always assisted her from the tub-booth to the salt slab; that one coming out of a hot water bath was inclined to feel a little weak; that she was not conscious at the moment that the attendant had released her arm, and that she continued automatically to walk toward the slab room, and almost immediately slipped and fell.

Mrs. Warner, the attendant, testified that she prepared the bath for Mrs. Elbert, that she noted the time carefully, and, at the end of ten minutes, told Mrs. Elbert that it was time to get up. She assisted her from the tub and placed the sheet about her in the usual manner; it touched the floor, and she warned Mrs. Elbert to “watch and don’t trip on your sheet”. She says she started to guide Mrs. Elbert out of the little room; she had her hands on each side of Mrs. Elbert’s back, but released her at the door of the tub-room because she’ wanted to go on ahead to prepare the s.alt slab; that there were sheets on the floor of the outer central room over which Mrs. Elbert passed on her way to the slab room, and that it was not a part of an attendant’s duty and custom to assist bathers from the bathroom to the room where they received the salt and soap rub, “unless they were crippled and asked for my assistance”.- She says that while she was guiding Mrs. Elbert to the door of her tub-room, she (Mrs. Elbert) raised her elbows in a manner indicating that she did not wish to be held by the attendant. In explaining her interpretation of this movement Mrs. Warner said: “Well, in all my experience I have found most people, or practically all people who aren’t crippled, resent, having some one hold onto them unless they need their assistance.” Finding nothing unusual’ in • this movement Mrs. Warner says that when Mrs. Elbert had' passed out of the doorway ’and stepped [663]*663aside, she (Mrs. Warner) went over to the slab.

At the moment of reaching the slab room Mrs. Warner heard a thudding sound in the central room, turned around and saw Mrs. Elbert on the floor. She was lying “right outside of her booth”, and “on the sheet that was on the floor”. She started to pick Mrs. Elbert up, found she couldn’t lift her alone, and called another assistant, Mrs. Cora Emery, to aid her.

“Q. Now, when Cora came did you hear Cora ask this lady anything? A. Yes, sir.

“Q. What did Cora ask her? A. She said, ‘Mrs. Elbert, did you faint?’

“Q. And what did Mrs. Elbert say? A. Mrs. Elbert said, T tripped on my sheet’.”

Mrs. Emery, in her testimony, said that as far as she could remember there was a sheet on the floor at the point where Mrs. Elbert fell; that it was always “the customary and general practice to put the sheets down there”; that the floor was not wet. Following are excerpts from her testimony:

“Q. Now, Mrs. Emery, did you speak to Mrs. Elbert at the time? A. I did.
“Q. What did you say to her? A. I said, ‘Oh, Mrs. Elbert, did you fall’ ?
“Q. And what did she say? A. She said, ‘No, I tripped on my sheet’.
“Q. Was there anything else said there? A. I started to pick her up and she said, ‘Oh, wait’.
“Q. And then what did you do? A. And Marie and I both assisted her to the cot room to a bed.
“Q. Now, Mrs. Emery, was there any water on the floor of that bathroom? A. Not to my knowledge.
“Q. Was there any occasion for any amount of water to be on the floor? A. Not in that particular place.”

And again:

“Q. You always assisted them out of the tub? A. Yes, we always help them out of the tub.
“Q. They had rules to that effect, you should assist them, did you not? A. Sure'ly, always help them out of the tub.
“Q. And the blood left their head while they were in those hot tubs, didn’t it?
“Q. That is the effect it has on them? A. We always help them out of the tub, yes.
“Q.

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Bluebook (online)
108 F.2d 661, 1940 U.S. App. LEXIS 4109, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/snapp-hotel-realty-co-v-elbert-ca8-1940.