In a recent case, the plebian floor mat takes center stage.
A hotel lobby floor sported a large rug. It was winter, so the hotel had placed a few floor mats on top of the rug to help control snow and ice inevitably tracked into the hotel by guests. Plaintiff tripped and fell on one of the mats, suffered injuries and sued.
Surveillance video captured plaintiff’s fall. The hotel preserved 24 minutes of the film; the fall occurred at about minute 13. The video shows people crossing the mat without incident at least 42 times, including the plaintiff, who did so twice before she fell. At no point during the video was the mat curled, bent or buckled. Instead, it appeared flat on the ground. Nor was the floor covering worn or poorly maintained. No slipping of the mat was observed, and no other guest complained about the mat’s condition.
Given these facts, the hotel denied liability and sought dismissal of the case without the need for trial.
Plaintiff argued against dismissal, in part by complaining the hotel should have preserved more of the video. In law, if a party destroys evidence for the purpose of hiding information, the jurors can draw an adverse inference against the wrongdoer. But plaintiff offered no evidence that the hotel acted in bad faith. The court ruled that preserving 24 minutes but not more was reasonable and adequate. Thus, the adverse inference did not apply.
With that issue resolved, the court addressed plaintiff’s claim of negligence. The court commented the use of ordinary floor mats is “perfectly reasonable.” Further, the fact that a person trips on one is not, without more, evidence of negligence. The “more” might include that defendant installed the mats in a rumpled condition, or allowed the mats to curl, bend or buckle, or utilized defective mats. Plaintiff proved none of that.
Plaintiff also argued the hotel was negligent for not taping the mats to the floor. The court rejected the notion that mats need to be secured to the floor. The case was dismissed.
The lessons: Not all trip and falls lead to liability. Video retention and good mat maintenance can save the day in a lawsuit.
This article was originally published in the January edition of Hotel Management magazine. Subscribe here.