Premises Liability Lawsuit Seeking Damages After a Restaurant Patron
Was Seriously Burned*
Case
Summary:
This is a review of a premises liability lawsuit.
The lawsuit originated when a young man was seriously burned while
dining at a
local restaurant. The young man was an invited guest at a friend's
going away party which was being given by his parents in honor of their
son's deployment with the United States Marines to his first tour in
Afghanistan.
As a
result of the burns the guest required a series of skin grafts
for both his hand and arm. In an effort to recoup some of
the outlay of
medical costs, out-of-pocket expenses, lost wages, and pain and
suffering the family filed a claim with the restaurant's insurance
company. When negotiations
with the insurance company broke down, the
injured guest's family filed a premises liability lawsuit against the
restaurant.
Statement of Facts...
Edward Mclintock was a 23 year old member of the
United States
Marines. He recently graduated from boot camp and had received his
orders to deploy with his unit to Afghanistan for his first tour. When
his parents heard the news they decided to throw a party in his honor
and to invite 15 of Edward's friends and colleagues.
Mclintock's
parents often dined at the Bostiche Family Restaurant.
They enjoyed their times there and decided to rent one of the
restaurant's catering rooms to hold the party for their son. The family
made an agreement with the restaurant where for the price of
$500 the
restaurant would provide the room, three serving staff and a buffet
meal.
The party was set to begin at 8:00 p.m. on Friday,
April 1st, 2011.
Before the guests arrived the restaurant staff already had set up the
food trays and placed underneath each one a self-igniting burner. As
the guests moved down the serving line, they were talking and laughing
with each other.
Suddenly, one of the guests, John Arriaga,
inadvertently bumped into another guest. As he did, the plate he was
holding made contact with one of the hot serving trays. The tray was
filled with vegetables heated to over 300 degrees. Underneath it was a
lit burner. The burner was self-igniting, and burned continuously,
whether it stood straight up, or was on its side.
As
Arriaga made contact with the hot food tray, it moved slightly
and then fell off its metal perch and on to Arriaga's right hand.
At
the same time, the burner rolled from its place forward and into
Arriaga's right forearm. Arriaga's right hand and forearm were singed
by the heat. He cried out in pain.
Several of the guests put their
plates down and rushed to Arriaga's aid. They wrapped a linen around
his right hand and forearm and helped him to sit down.
Realizing how serious the burns were and the
extreme pain Arriaga
was suffering, Mclintock's father called 911. Shortly thereafter Fire
and Rescue arrived. They stabilized Arriaga and transported him to the
local hospital's emergency burn unit. There he was sedated and prepped
for surgery. Arriaga
required skin grafting to his right hand and parts
of his forearm. He was required to remain in the
hospital's burn unit
for 5 days.
Arriaga and his family incurred medical bills of
$24,000. The out of
pocket expenses for their son John's prescription medications and burn
wound aids was another $2,200.
Prior to his injuries, John
Arriaga was employed as a computer
technician. Arriaga recently completed a two-year certification course
in computer technical assistance. He had been hired by a national
computer company and worked in their technical assistance department
repairing computer hard drives.
Arriaga, who was right-handed, was
ordered by doctors not to use his right hand or right forearm until all
the skin grafts were completed. Arriaga was eventually told he wouldn't
be able to use his right hand until the skin on his right hand and
forearm completely healed. The physicians estimated this would take
between 9 to 12 months.
In
addition to his medical costs so far, Arriaga was to lose 9 to 12
months' wages. Because of bonuses, that amount could be
anywhere from
$3,000 to $4,000 a month. At 12 months, that could conceivably amount
to over $40,000 in lost wages.
Arriaga and his family contacted the restaurant's
insurance company
and filed a premises
liability claim requesting reimbursement for the
damages Arriaga already incurred, and his probable future damages.
Their claim
asked for:
- Present Medical Bills ($24,000)
- Out-of-Pocket Expenses ($2,200)
- Lost Wages ($44,000)
- Present and Future Pain and Suffering ($500,000)
When the Arriaga's and the restaurant's insurance
company failed to
come to an agreement, the Arriaga family filed a premises liability
lawsuit against the restaurant.
The Premises Liability Lawsuit...
The legal basis of the lawsuit was the concept of Premises
Liability. In this case, premises liability included an
"Invitee"
(Arriaga) who had a right to expect to enjoy his dining experience
without being severely injured.
When a person is invited onto the
premises of another, the owner of the premises has a "duty
of
care" to protect the invitee from undo harm and bodily injury. If
the owner of the property breaches that duty of care and an invitee is
injured, the invitee may take legal action against the property
owner.
The
restaurant's insurance company argued the restaurant took all
reasonable care to assure Arriaga wouldn't be injured. The
company
argued that Arriaga was solely to blame for his injuries.
Outcome...
After the arguments of both sides, the Judge sent
the jury out to
deliberate on the following questions:
- Do you believe John Arriaga was an invitee to
the Bostiche Family
Restaurant?
- If he was, did the Bostiche Family Restaurant
breach their duty
to protect him?
- If they did breach their duty, was the
restaurant negligent
in
their dereliction of their duty of care to him?
- What amount of money would fairly compensate
John Arriaga for his
medical bills, out-of -pocket expenses, lost wages, and his pain
and suffering?
The jury deliberated and returned an answer of
"yes" to the first
three questions. They
awarded Arriaga the total amount of the claim,
$570,200.
Important
Points...
- Premises liability lawsuits occur
when guests,
invitees, workers,
and other third parties have a legal
right to be on another's premises.
The owner of the premises then has a duty to any of those people to
protect them against undue harm or injury. A breach of that duty,
especially when that breach is defined by the courts as negligence, can
often result in jury verdicts of substantial amounts of money.
- The calculation of
damages for those injured as a
result of premises
liability can include, but not be limited to actual damages (medical
bills and out-of-pocket expenses), lost wages, and present and future
"Pain
and Suffering."
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*This
case example is for educational purposes only. It is based on actual
events although names have been changed to protect those involved. Any
resemblance to real persons or entities is purely coincidental.
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