The Tennessee Supreme Court has determined that a hotel guest cannot recover from the hotel’s owner for injuries sustained when a bench collapsed in a handicap-accessible shower because the hotel builder improperly installed the bench and the owner was not aware that the installation was defective.
The case arose in 2010, when Greg Parker, a paraplegic, and his wife, Diane, rented a handicap-accessible room at the Holiday Inn Express in Harriman. The Parkers inspected the bathroom upon arriving in their room and noticed a gap between the shower bench and the wall. They reported it to a hotel employee, and a hotel maintenance employee came to the room after the Parkers left for dinner, tightened the bolts securing the bench to the wall, applied pressure to the bench after doing so, and determined that the bench was attached securely to the wall.
The Parkers later returned to the room, inspected the bench, applied pressure, and confirmed that it was flush with the wall and did not appear loose. The next morning, Mr. Parker sat on the bench while showering and, after about 10 minutes, the bench collapsed, causing Mr. Parker to crash to the floor and sustain injuries, including compression fractures of his spine.
The Parkers filed suit against several parties, including the hotel owner and the independent contractor who built the hotel. The Parkers’ claim against the independent contractor was dismissed because it was not brought within four years of completion of the hotel as required by Tennessee law. The Parkers’ claim against the hotel owner proceeded.
The parties agreed to several facts, including: the bench failed because of the negligence of the builder; the bench’s anchors were concealed behind sheetrock; the hotel owner never inspected the bench during construction; and the hotel owner never received any complaints about the bench prior to its collapse. Based on the agreed facts, the trial court granted the hotel owner summary judgment and determined the Parkers could not recover monetary damages from the hotel owner.
The Parkers appealed. The Court of Appeals concluded that factual disputes remained about whether the hotel owner should have discovered the defectively installed shower bench during the four years the hotel had been operating before the bench collapsed. The appeals court set aside the summary judgment and sent the case back to the trial court.
The Supreme Court granted review and reinstated the trial court’s decision. The Court explained that under Tennessee law property owners generally are not liable for injuries sustained on their property that occur because of an independent contractor’s negligence (in this case the builder), unless the property owner caused the defective condition, was aware of it, or should have been aware of it.
The Court rejected the Parkers’ argument that two exceptions to this general rule apply in this case. The Court also disagreed with the Court of Appeals and concluded that the agreed facts showed that the hotel owner had no reason to know of the defectively installed shower bench. The Court pointed out that the hotel owner could not have discovered it without dismantling the sheetrock wall. The Court reinstated the trial court’s decision granting the hotel owner summary judgment and finding that the Parkers could not recover monetary damages.
To read the unanimous opinion in Greg Parker et al. v. Holiday Hospitality Franchising, authored by Justice Cornelia A. Clark, visit the Opinions section of TNCourts.gov.