(QUESTIONS)

1. Facts of the Case

Provide a very concise and clear summary of the case. Be brief but do include all information that you feel is essential to the case. 

 

2. Arguments provided by the parties

Provide a short summary of the main arguments provided by the parties. 

 

3. You be the Judge

Provide your own judgement to the case. Which party should be held liable and accountable? Who do you think is at fault and why? Support your judgement with the relevant facts of the case that justify your reasoning.

 

4. Relevance

Summarize your thoughts on the importance/relevance/significance of the case for the accommodation industry and your message to management on how to possibly avoid such lawsuits in the future.

 

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(Article)

 

The Facts:

 

 

[1]              The plaintiff slipped and fell on premises occupied by Holiday Inn and Metropolitan Place on Wyse Road in Dartmouth and has brought this action for damages suffered as a result of the fall.  Both liability and quantum of damages are in issue.

 

The Plaintiff's Evidence:

 

[2]              The plaintiff was 63 years of age on February 5, 1999, the date of the fall.  His formal education ended at grade 8 at age 13 years and he has since worked at various jobs in Nova Scotia and Ontario as a service station operator, transport truck driver and apartment building manager.  He is now retired and receives a disability pension under the Canada Pension Plan.

 

 

[3]              The plaintiff married his present wife on May 19, 1984.  They have no dependant children.  

 

[4]              The plaintiff says that he slipped and fell in the lobby area of the Holiday Inn at Dartmouth on February 5, 1999.  He says that at the time he was walking along a corridor shortly behind his wife when he felt his feet going to the side and as he fell frontwards he put his hands over his face to protect himself.  He says he sort of did the splits as his right leg was flung out and back in on an angle.  His chest and mouth struck the floor.  He says he was sort of dazed and a lot of people gathered around him.  He says he was looking straight ahead just before he slipped.  He says he was wearing rubber soled shoes at the time.  Those shoes were introduced in evidence as Exhibit 6.  He says that after the fall two men helped him up and a woman employee of  Holiday Inn came to the scene.  He says that someone pointed out to her water on the floor where he had slipped and fallen.  She first said "I can't see it" and after it was pointed out to her she said she would have it cleaned up.  The plaintiff says that he slipped on the water on the floor.

 

[5]              The plaintiff says there were no signs indicating that the floor was slippery or any warning signs of water on the floor.  

 

[6]              He says that following his fall he proceeded to keep a previously planned appointment with his lawyer whose office was located in Metropolitan Place. He says he cut short the appointment because he was in pain from the fall.  He says on his way out of the Holiday Inn he left a note at the front desk advising of his home address.  At that time he says there were slippery floor warning signs placed at the point where he had fallen.

 

[7]              The plaintiff says that as a result of the fall he suffered injuries to his right hip and chest wall and, from putting his hands to his face to protect himself while falling, the knuckle of one of his fingers damaged two lower front teeth.  He says as a result one tooth fell out but he still has the other.

 

[8]              He says the day after the fall he was very sore and could not sleep.  He says he took Tylenol 3 for the pain and about 4 months after the fall the pain lessened and his chest injury returned to normal.  He says he still suffers from pain in his hip.

 

 

[9]              The plaintiff says that on February 8, 1999, the Monday after his fall, because he was still in pain he visited his family doctor.  He says he later saw Dr. Reginald Yabsley, an orthopaedic surgeon, who investigated his hip problems.  He says Dr. Yabsley recommended physiotherapy but because of a previous heart condition he could not take physiotherapy.  He says he took electric shock treatment and later had 4 or 5 cortisone injections to his hip which relieved the pain for only short periods of time.

 

 

[10]         The plaintiff says that before the fall he and his wife walked one and one-half miles per day, which he enjoyed and was medically recommended for his heart condition.  He says that he can now walk very little and as a result his weight has increased.  He says the hip pains him from time to time and he takes Tylenol 3 for the pain.  He says he can no longer lift his right leg and he now uses a lift chair to assist him in getting to his feet from a reclining position, although he says he had the chair prior to the injury because of his heart problem.  He says he cannot sit or stand for long periods of time because of the pain in his hip.  He says he cannot now enter the passenger side of his van, although he is able to get in by the driver's door.  He says, as a result of the hip injury, he cannot sleep and when he does it is not a restful sleep.  He says he can no longer operate a flea market table and the resulting loss of income has caused financial problems leading to the repossession of his van.  He says he now has nightmares, his nerves are bad and he is crabby.

 

Past Medical History:

 

[11]         The plaintiff says that he has had approximately 7 heart attacks, the first in 1984 shortly after his marriage.  He says that in June 1992, he had heart bypass surgery requiring the regrafting of an artery from his right leg.

 

[12]         He has angina and prior to the fall had both rheumatism and arthritis in his hips and shoulders.  He says it bothered his shoulders mostly.  He says the right hip pain now sets off his angina attacks and he believes his life expectancy has been reduced by his hip injury.

 

Liability:

 

[13]         I shall deal first with the liability issue.

 

[14]         The plaintiff slipped and fell in the concourse area of the Holiday Inn and Metropolitan Place.  Both businesses are operated in a seven storey building on Wyse Road in Dartmouth.

 

[15]         Holiday Inn operates a hotel and Metropolitan Place operates a commercial office complex.  Each has its own entrance and exits and persons may also gain entrance to both operations from two parking lots.  Each has a separate lobby area and bank of elevators.  The lobbies are joined by a concourse area where the plaintiff fell.  A gift shop and a cafe called 'Quickies' are accessible along the concourse.

 

[16]         There is a narrow but visible separation along the width of the concourse floor which denotes the division line between the Holiday Inn and Metropolitan Place.  It was at or close to that dividing line and probably on the Holiday Inn side that the plaintiff slipped and fell.  Both defendants are represented by the same counsel and the court has not been called upon to decide whether the point of the plaintiff's fall was on premises occupied by Holiday Inn or Metropolitan Place.  The division line did not contribute to the cause of the fall.