Earlier this year, a state appellate court issued an opinion in a Georgia premises liability lawsuit discussing the duty that a hotel owes to its guests. The case required the court to determine if the plaintiff presented sufficient evidence to survive the defendant’s motion for summary judgment. The court ultimately concluded that the case should proceed to trial, in which a jury could resolve the material issues of fact raised by the plaintiff’s evidence.
According to the court’s opinion, the plaintiff and a friend were in Atlanta for a sporting event and stayed at the defendant hotel. As the plaintiff was finishing up in the shower, he slipped and fell. The plaintiff briefly lost consciousness. Once the plaintiff got back home, he experienced blurred vision and nausea.
Two days after the fall, the plaintiff’s wife reported the incident to the hotel. The plaintiff’s wife testified that the general manager told her that the room where her husband stayed should not have been rented because there were no traction strips in the shower and it was under renovation. The manager did not recall telling the plaintiff’s wife that there were no anti-slip strips in the shower.