Joynt v. California Hotel & Casino

• Decision Date: 05 August 1992
• Docket Number: No. 22392,22392
• Citation: 108 Nev. 539,835 P.2d 799
• Parties: Patrick JOYNT, Appellant, v. CALIFORNIA HOTEL & CASINO dba Sam's Town Hotel, Gambling Hall & Bowling Center, Respondent.
• Court: Nevada Supreme Court

Page 799

835 P.2d 799

108 Nev. 539

Patrick JOYNT, Appellant, v. CALIFORNIA HOTEL & CASINO dba Sam's Town Hotel, Gambling

Hall & Bowling Center, Respondent.

No. 22392.

Supreme Court of Nevada.

Aug. 5, 1992.

[108 Nev. 540] Jason A. Awad & Associates and Frank J. Cundari, Las Vegas, for appellant.

McDonald, Carano, Wilson, McCune, Bergin, Frankovich & Hicks and T. Arthur Ritchie, Jr., Las Vegas, for respondent.

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

On February 21, 1988, appellant Patrick Joynt ("Joynt") was waiting to enter a restaurant at the California Hotel and Casino, which does business as Sam's Town Hotel, Gambling Hall and Bowling Center. According to Joynt, the waiting area was very crowded. While Joynt was waiting to enter the restaurant, another person asked to pass in front of him. Because of the crowding, it was necessary for Joynt to take a step back so that the person could pass.

Behind Joynt was a colorful statue of a Western character with a slot machine in its chest. Although Joynt had observed the statue in the past, he had not noticed that the statue had a base plate that protruded beyond the statue. Thus, even though Joynt knew that he had enough room to take a step backwards without contacting the statue, when he took his step backwards, he fell over the base plate. As a result of this fall, Joynt injured his left shoulder and arm and his right knee.

Joynt filed a complaint against the casino in which he asserted that the casino was negligent in maintaining its premises. Thereafter, the casino's attorneys deposed Joynt. During his deposition, Joynt was asked if he would have fallen if he had seen the base plate. Joynt replied, "If I would have seen the base, I wouldn't have fell." Joynt also stated that "I presume I wouldn't fall. I mean I'm not going to walk in a hole if there's a hole there, you know." The casino then filed a motion for summary judgment and asserted that Joynt's fall was caused by his own negligence. The casino relied on the argument that there were no genuine issues of material fact with regard to causation. Subsequently, the district court granted the casino's motion for summary judgment.

On appeal, Joynt asserts that the district court erred when it granted summary judgment. Specifically, Joynt argues that: (1) he has raised genuine issues of fact with regard to the casino's negligence, (2) his actions should be judged by a reasonableness standard, and (3) because of the comparative negligence rule, any possible negligence on his part does not bar his negligence action. We agree with Joynt and conclude that the district court erred in granting summary judgment.

Our review of summary judgment orders is de novo. Tore, Ltd. v. Church, 105 Nev. 183, 185, 772 P.2d 1281, 1282 (1989). We have often reiterated the requirements for a grant of summary judgment:

"Summary judgment is appropriate only when the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, and no genuine issue of material fact remains for trial;" properly supported factual allegations of the party opposing summary judgment must be accepted as true. Additionally, the pleadings and documentary evidence must be construed in the light which is most favorable to the party against whom the motion for summary judgment is directed. Litigants are not to be deprived of a trial if there is the slightest doubt as to the operative facts.

Perez v. Las Vegas Medical Center, 107 Nev. 1, 805 P.2d 589, 590 (1991) (citations omitted). In addition, questions of negligence and proximate cause are generally questions of fact: "A party's negligence becomes a question of law only when the evidence will support no other inference." Shepard v. Harrison, 100 Nev. 178, 180, 678 P.2d 670, 672 (1984); see Nehls v. Leonard, 97 Nev. 325, 328, 630 P.2d 258, 260 (1981).

In a negligence action, the plaintiff has the burden of demonstrating the following: (1) that the defendant had a duty to exercise due care with respect to the plaintiff; (2) that the defendant breached this duty; (3) that the breach was both the actual and proximate cause of the plaintiff's injury; and (4) that the plaintiff was damaged. Perez at 4, 805 P.2d at 590-91. To prevail on a summary judgment motion, the moving party has the burden of proving the absence of genuine issues of fact and must "show that one of the elements is clearly lacking as a matter of law." Sims v. General Telephone and Electric, 107 Nev. 516, 521, 815 P.2d 151, 154 (1991); see Renaud v. 200 Convention Center, Ltd., 102 Nev. 500, 501, 728 P.2d 445, 446 (1986). In addition, the court must give the party opposing summary judgment the benefit of favorable inferences, and must not draw inferences favorable to the moving party. O'Dell v. Martin, 101 Nev. 142, 144, 696 P.2d 996, 997 (1985); Berge v. Fredericks, 95 Nev. 183, 186, 591 P.2d 246, 247 (1979).

In the present case, Joynt has introduced evidence, in the form of an affidavit and deposition testimony, suggesting that the casino may have breached its duty to provide a reasonably safe environment to its business invitees and may have proximately caused Joynt's injuries. ¹ Specifically, Joynt asserts that the casino allowed a large crowd to form outside the restaurant and did not establish any crowd control measures. In addition, Joynt contends that the base plate on the statue is not noticeable (although it is visible) because the Western character and slot machine are distracting by design. Thus, Joynt suggests that the casino did not properly maintain its premises and that his injuries may have resulted from the casino's failure to provide a reasonably safe environment. We conclude that Joynt has raised questions of fact with regard to the breach of duty and causation issues.

The casino asserts that "Joynt's deposition testimony amounts to an admission that the actual and legal cause of his fall was his own negligence." This assertion lacks merit for three reasons. First, the cases cited by the casino in support of its assertion involve hazards that were clearly obvious or marked. For instance, in Hennesy v. Tina Marie Homes, Inc., 388 P.2d 758 (Colo.1963), the plaintiff, while walking backwards, fell down the interior steps of a model home during her inspection of the home. In Hill v. Gaertner, 92 N.W.2d 810 (Minn.1958), the plaintiff walked backwards down a hall and fell down the stairs. The hall was lighted, and the plaintiff lived in an apartment on the hall and thus knew where the stairs were located. Finally, in Young v. Price, 47 Haw. 309, 388 P.2d 203 (1963), the plaintiff fell over a green hose lying across a cement sidewalk. The hose was marked by two orange and black traffic cones and a red flag.

Joynt's accident did not involve such clearly obvious or well-marked hazards. Joynt asserts that he did not previously notice the statue's base plate because...