76 Hawai'i 494, Richardson v. Sport Shinko (Waikiki Corp.)

Decision Date29 August 1994
Docket NumberNo. 16492,16492
Parties76 Hawai'i 494 Renee M. RICHARDSON and Thaddeus Richardson, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. SPORT SHINKO (WAIKIKI CORPORATION) d/b/a Queen Kapiolani Hotel; John Does 1-5; Jane Does 1-5; Doe Partnerships 1-5; Doe Corporations 1-5; and Doe Governmental Entities 1-5, Defendants-Appellees.
CourtHawaii Supreme Court

Janice P. Kim and David Allan Feller (Alexander Y.H. Kim, with them, on the brief), Honolulu, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Curtis E. Aldendifer, Honolulu, for defendants-appellees.

Before MOON, C.J., and KLEIN, LEVINSON, NAKAYAMA and RAMIL, JJ.

MOON, Chief Justice.

Plaintiffs-appellants Renee and Thaddeus Richardson (the Richardsons) appeal from a judgment entered in favor of defendant-appellee Sport Shinko dba Queen Kapiolani Hotel (Sport Shinko) subsequent to a post-arbitration trial de novo and from the trial court's order granting sanctions in favor of Sport Shinko. At trial, the Richardsons sought damages for the personal injury sustained by Renee Richardson (Mrs. Richardson) allegedly as a result of Sport Shinko's negligent maintenance of the premises at the Queen Kapiolani Hotel. After the jury rendered its verdict in favor of Sport Shinko, the trial court imposed monetary sanctions against the Richardsons pursuant to Rule 26 of the Hawai'i Arbitration Rules (HAR), which authorizes such sanctions against parties who fail at trial to improve the non-binding arbitration award they had obtained earlier in the proceedings through the Court-Annexed Arbitration Program (CAAP).

On appeal, the Richardsons claim that the circuit court erred in denying their motions for: (1) a directed verdict on the issue of liability; and (2) a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV), or in the alternative, for new trial. The Richardsons also maintain that the trial court erred in instructing the jury on the issue of Sport Shinko's duty and in failing to instruct the jury on other matters. We hold that: (1) liability in this case was a question of fact; (2) the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in instructing the jury; and (3) there is substantial evidence to support the jury's verdict. Accordingly, we reject each of the Richardsons' claimed errors and affirm the judgment.

The Richardsons further argue that the award of sanctions must be reversed because the sanctions authorized by HAR 26: (1) may be imposed against a non-prevailing party only when its pursuit of a trial de novo is frivolous; (2) may be imposed only as a set-off against a recovery; and (3) violate their constitutional rights to a civil jury trial and equal protection of the laws. Based on the discussion below, we reject each of these arguments and affirm the award of sanctions.

I. BACKGROUND

On October 21, 1989, Mrs. Richardson, a self-employed disc jockey, entered the Queen Kapiolani Hotel at mid-day to set up stereo equipment in the hotel's Akala Room prior to a wedding reception for which she had been hired to provide music. Mrs. Richardson positioned the equipment in the room and ran cords toward an electrical outlet on the wall behind "a plant or something." When she knelt down to plug the cords in, a metal staple, imbedded in the carpet, pierced the inside of her left knee through the cartilage down to the bone.

Mary Louise Guerrero, the hotel's banquet manager and immediate supervisor of the Akala Room, called an ambulance. Paramedics arrived shortly thereafter and removed the staple. Mrs. Richardson's knee was later examined and treated at Kaiser Hospital's emergency room.

As a result of the incident, the Richardsons filed a complaint for general and special damages on August 29, 1990, alleging various theories of negligence against Sport Shinko, the owner and operator of the hotel. In general, the Richardsons complained that they suffered injuries 1 as a result of Mrs. Richardson kneeling on the staple, which injuries were legally caused by Sport Shinko's negligent maintenance of the hotel premises. The case was subsequently assigned to the CAAP.

On June 14, 1991, the arbitrator found Sport Shinko liable and made the following award:

Special Damages:

Renee Richardson ........ $23,269.33

Thaddeus Richardson ....... 1,172.47

General Damages:

Renee Richardson ........ $35,000.00

Thaddeus Richardson ....... 1,000.00

TOTAL: $60,441.80

Pursuant to HAR 22, the Richardsons, on July 3, 1991, appealed the award to the circuit court and requested a trial de novo. HAR 22 provides in relevant part:

(A) Within twenty (20) days after the award is served upon the parties, any party may file with the clerk of the court and serve on the other parties and the Arbitration Administrator a written Notice of Appeal and Request for Trial De Novo of the action.

(B) After the filing and service of the written Notice of Appeal and Request for Trial De Novo, the case shall be set for trial pursuant to applicable court rules.

On July 2, 1992, twelve days before trial, Sport Shinko served an offer of judgment on the Richardsons pursuant to Rule 68 of the Hawai'i Rules of Civil Procedure (HRCP) 2 in the amount of $70,000.00 to Mrs. Richardson and $5,000.00 to Mr. Richardson. The offer was not accepted and expired on its terms on July 12, 1992; 3 trial commenced two days later on July 14, 1992.

The record indicates that, at trial, the Richardsons' primary theory of negligence against Sport Shinko was based on the following contentions: (1) the staples scattered in the Akala Room carpet constituted an unreasonably dangerous condition; (2) Sport Shinko had notice of that condition, yet failed to warn visitors of or remedy it; and (3) the Richardsons were injured as a legal result of Sport Shinko's actions or inactions.

During the trial, Mrs. Richardson testified that after kneeling on the staple in the Akala Room on October 21, 1989 and

while the paramedics were there, one of the guys that was working in the hotel room ... walked over to where the outlet was where he saw me kneeling down. And I saw him kick the carpet or something and he came back and he said oh, look, I found another--I found a staple in the carpet.

According to Mrs. Richardson, the employee gave the staple to one of the paramedics, who in turn gave the staple to her. Mrs. Richardson produced a staple at trial which she claimed to have been the same staple recovered by the employee.

Although the origin of the staples was never conclusively determined, the Richardsons elicited testimony from Guerrero and Eugene Virgo, a hotel night janitor, that stray staples could have been left in the room after the recent installation of a new carpet or from construction activities during a "Queen of the Universe" pageant held in the room a week earlier. Virgo testified that he cleans and vacuums the Akala Room during his shift after functions are held in that room. According to Virgo, vacuuming was the best way to detect debris in the carpet because the carpet's pattern made visual inspection difficult. More particularly, Virgo related that he could detect staples while vacuuming because they made a "clinking noise" in the vacuum.

Virgo recalled that, in the week preceding Mrs. Richardson's injury, he had removed and discarded staples found in the Akala Room carpet on three or four occasions while vacuuming. On the night after the pageant, he had found four or five staples; each night thereafter he had picked up fewer and fewer staples until no more could be detected. During this time, Virgo testified, he vacuumed the same areas in the Akala Room twice to make sure that he had removed any foreign particles embedded in the rug. Virgo explained that he was eventually satisfied in his own mind that he had picked up all the staples in the area where Mrs. Richardson was later injured because he no longer heard the clinking noise in the vacuum. Virgo identified the staple removed from Mrs. Richardson's knee as being the same type he had found in the carpet while cleaning.

Guerrero testified that there were no complaints or reports of staples in the Akala Room carpet before Mrs. Richardson was injured and that the room was regularly cleaned and vacuumed during the daytime. Guerrero further stated that she was in close proximity to Mrs. Richardson when she was injured and had observed the paramedics remove the staple from Mrs. Richardson's knee.

At the close of evidence, the Richardsons moved for a directed verdict on liability, claiming that Sport Shinko was negligent as a matter of law in failing to warn of or remedy the unreasonably dangerous condition (staples in the carpet) in the Akala Room. The trial court denied the motion. On July 20, 1992, the jury returned a special verdict finding that Sport Shinko was not negligent. Judgment was entered accordingly in favor of Sport Shinko on September 22, 1992. On September 29, 1992, the Richardsons filed a motion for a JNOV, or in the alternative, for new trial, which the court denied. Sport Shinko brought its motion for sanctions pursuant to HAR 26, which the court granted in the amount of $5,234.41 on November 25, 1992.

II. DISCUSSION
A. Jurisdiction

Initially, we note that the events transpiring after the verdict was rendered in this case present an important jurisdictional issue not addressed by either party. We will consider sua sponte whether we have jurisdiction to review the circuit court orders entered after the Richardsons filed their first notice of appeal. See Kernan v. Tanaka, 75 Haw. 1, 15, 856 P.2d 1207, 1215 (1993) ("[a]ppellate courts have an obligation to insure they have jurisdiction to hear and determine each case" (citing State v. Moniz, 69 Haw. 370, 742 P.2d 373 (1987)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 1070, 127 L.Ed.2d 389 (1994).

For present purposes, the significant dates and events may be summarized as follows:

07/20/92 Jury returned its verdict in favor of Sport Shinko;

08/04/92 Sport Shinko filed its HAR 26 motion for costs and sanctions as the prevailing...

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