Lister v. Hyatt Corp.

• Decision Date: 09 December 2019
• Docket Number: CASE NO. C18-0961JLR
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Washington
• Parties: KATHRYN LISTER, Plaintiff, v. HYATT CORPORATION, Defendant.

KATHRYN LISTER, Plaintiff, v. HYATT CORPORATION, Defendant.

CASE NO. C18-0961JLR

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE

December 9, 2019

ORDER ON MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND TO EXCLUDE EXPERT WITNESSES

I. INTRODUCTION

Before the court are four motions: (1) Plaintiff Kathryn Lister's motion for partial summary judgment on certain affirmative defenses (1st Plf. PSJM (Dkt. # 22)); (2) Defendant Hyatt Corporation's ("Hyatt") motion for summary judgment on Ms. Lister's claims (Def. MSJ (Dkt. # 30)); (3) Ms. Lister's motion for partial summary judgment on her status as an invitee (2d Plf. PSJM (Dkt. # 32)); and (4) Hyatt's motion to exclude expert testimony (Def. MTE (Dkt. # 40)). The court has reviewed the motions, the parties' submissions filed in support of and in opposition to the motions, the relevant portions of the record, and the applicable law. Being fully advised,¹ the court (1) GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Ms. Lister's motion for summary judgment on certain affirmative defenses; (2) GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Hyatt's motion to exclude expert testimony; (3) GRANTS Ms. Lister's motion for partial summary judgment on her status as an invitee; and (4) DENIES Hyatt's motion for summary judgment.

II. BACKGROUND²

A. Factual Background

This matter arises from a slip and fall at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue in Bellevue, Washington, which is owned by Hyatt. (See Compl. (Dkt. # 1-2) ¶¶ 2.1-2.8.) Ms. Lister alleges that, on June 15, 2017, she slipped and fell in vomit near the entrance to the women's restroom next to Hyatt's lobby. (See id.) Ms. Lister alleges she incurred injuries from the fall. (See id. ¶ 3.4.)

// On June 15, 2017, shortly before midnight, Ms. Lister went to the 13 Coins Restaurant in Bellevue, Washington. (See 10/17/19 Skinner Decl. (Dkt. # 31) ¶ 2, Ex. 1 ("Lister Dep.")³ at 25:1-20 (indicating that Ms. Lister only recalls the time she arrived at 13 Coins from a recent review of Hyatt's security video); 11/1/19 Graham Decl. (Dkt. # 44) ¶¶ 2-3, Exs. 1-2 (attaching copies of the June 15, 2017, Hyatt Regency Bellevue security video) (hereinafter, "Video"); see also Def. MSJ at 3 (citing Compl. ¶ 2.2) (indicating the date of Ms. Lister's visit to 13 Coins was June 15, 2017).) Shortly after 11:55 p.m., Ms. Lister slipped and fell in vomit that was on the floor of Hyatt's lobby, which adjoins 13 Coins. (See Lister Dep. at 36:25-37:11; see also Video at 11:55.)

On the night of her fall, Ms. Lister took an elevator from the parking garage directly into 13 Coins. (Lister Dep. at 25:21-26:1; 29:4-8.) She did not pass through Hyatt to get to the restaurant. (See id.) A pair of interior doors connects Hyatt's lobby and 13 Coins. (See Lister Dep. at 32:4-12.) On the night of Ms. Lister's fall, the double doors between 13 Coins and Hyatt's lobby were wide open. (Id. at 32:6-9, 13-16.)

Hyatt produced a copy of the security video from the lobby area on the night of June 15, 2017. (See Video.) At approximately 11:25 p.m., the video depicts two women walking from 13 Coins into Hyatt's lobby. (See id.) The two women proceed down the corridor adjacent to Hyatt's lobby, and one of the women appears to vomit on the tileflooring in the area near the restroom where Ms. Lister eventually slips and falls. (See id.; Lister Dep. at 37:36:19-37:11.)

At approximately 11:36 p.m., the video depicts a security guard, who was identified through discovery as Kyle Crandall, walking down the corridor adjacent to Hyatt's lobby and the area where the woman vomited. (See Video; see generally 10/17/19 Skinner Decl. ¶ 6, Ex. 5 ("Crandall Dep.").) Mr. Crandall continues past the area of contamination and appears to look down at the ground near the end of the hallway. (See Video.) The video depicts Mr. Crandall walking back through the area near the vomit again at approximately 11:41 p.m. (See id.)

Just before 11:55 p.m., the video depicts Ms. Lister leaving the 13 Coins Restaurant and walking down the corridor adjacent to Hyatt's lobby toward Hyatt's restrooms. (See id.) Ms. Lister testified that she needed to use the restroom and chose to use the restroom near Hyatt's lobby because she knew where it was located. (Lister Dep. at 31:7-32:16.) Just after 11:55 p.m., the video depicts Ms. Lister slipping on Hyatt's tile flooring where one of the two women at the beginning of the video appeared to vomit. (See Video.) Ms. Lister did not see the vomit on the tile flooring prior to her fall. (Lister Dep. at 44:1-5.) Prior to her fall, she was looking up for the restroom sign. (Id. at 39:20-40:6.) She only realized that there was vomit on the floor after she fell. (Id. at 43:15-25.) Approximately 30 minutes passed between what appears to be the vomiting incident on the video and Ms. Lister's slip and fall. (See Video.)

At approximately 11:59 p.m., a few minutes after Ms. Lister's fall, the video depicts Mr. Crandall walking down the corridor adjacent to Hyatt's lobby a third time.(See id.) Again, he appears to look down at the ground in the hallway. (See id.) Mr. Crandall testifies that he saw the vomit on the floor outside the restroom and reported it "[a] little before midnight." (Crandall Dep. at 10:20-25.) In his subsequent incident report, Mr. Crandall noted that, as he was "walking near the level one bathroom," he "walked through a puddle of vomit" and "immediately" reported the spill. (Crandall Dep., Ex. 1 (attaching Incident Report).) Mr. Crandall testified that "after watching the video," he believes that he did not see the vomit until after Ms. Lister slipped and fell. (Id. at 24:1-25.) He testified that he would have called his dispatch or the "central communications center" on his radio, reported the spill, and asked someone to come and clean it up. (Id. at 12:2-8; 11:20-13:18.) Mr. Crandall testified that his dispatch would have called Hyatt's front desk to report the problem. (Id.)

Following her fall, Ms. Lister returned to the 13 Coins Restaurant. (See Video.) While she was at 13 Coins, Mr. Crandall talked with her and "took a report" of her fall. (Crandell Dep. at 17:15-19:12; 25:13-19; & Ex. 1.) Mr. Crandall told Ms. Lister that he wanted to call an aid car for her, but she declined. (Id. at 18:7-25.)

Mr. Crandall works as a security guard for Kemper Freeman Properties ("Kemper"). (Id. at 6:7-17.) Alex Dantes, who was Hyatt's Director of Operations at the time of Ms. Lister's accident,⁴ testified that Kemper "[p]rovided security, filled out incident reports, reviewed cameras," and performed "general security" for Hyatt.(11/1/19 Graham Decl. ¶ 5, Ex. 4 ("Dantes Dep.")⁵ at 22:5-8.) He also testified that if a Kemper security guard "walked by and saw something on the floor," Hyatt expected the security guard to notify Hyatt so that a Hyatt employee could clean it up. (Id. at 22:20-23:1.) Mr. Dantes also testified that one of the duties of a Kemper security guard is to take incident reports for accidents that happen at Hyatt's facility. (Id. at 35:13-20 ("That's what we hire [Kemper] for is to provide security and document things of significance for the hotel.").)⁶

On the night of Ms. Lister's fall, Hyatt employees Roxanne Taggart-Hugo and Jaeson Bloom were working at the front desk. (10/17/19 Skinner Decl. ¶ 3, Ex. 2 ("Clark Dep.")⁷ at 56:16-21; id. ¶ 4, Ex. 3 ("Taggart-Hugo Dep.") at 32:19-33:15; id. ¶ 5, Ex. 4 ("Bloom Dep.") at 5:25-64, 6:12-22.) Hyatt insists no one reported the spill until Ms. Lister's fall. (See Def. MSJ at 4 ("[Ms. Taggart-Hugo] does not recall anyone reporting the presence of a spill near the restrooms until after [Ms. Lister's] fall.").) However, asthe court has previously noted, Ms. Taggart-Hugo's deposition testimony is not definitive and does not necessarily support that conclusion. (See 10/15/19 Order (Dkt. # 29) at 2-3.) Ms. Taggart-Hugo testified as follows:

Q: Did anybody tell you about the spill on the floor of the bathroom?

A: I don't remember being reported the spill. But once I looked at my emails, it was - I had written that the 13 Coins hostess had informed me.

Q: Okay. Do you know what time that was?

A: I didn't write in the email what time it was. Again, I would have to speculate exactly what I wrote down. But, you know, in the following email chains, I said before midnight.

Q: Do you know when Kathryn fell, what time?

A: I would have to speculate . . . exactly what time, but I wrote around midnight, I think I wrote 12:05ish.

Q: Do you know where you got that time from?

A: Looking at the time on the computer and writing it down on a note.

Q: Do you know whether that the time would have been when you learned about from the person from 13 Coins?

A: I don't remember.

Q: Do you know what time Kathryn fell?

A: No.

(Hugo-Taggart Dep. at 30:22-31:19.) Mr. Bloom has no recollection of or knowledge concerning any of the events surrounding Ms. Lister's June 15, 2018, fall.⁸ (Bloom Dep. at 17:23-20:24.)

Hyatt's Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(b)(6) deponent, Sean Clark, testified that both Hyatt's lobby and the restrooms adjacent to the lobby are open to the public. (Clark Dep. at 42:4-6; 43:1-3.) He testified that, in addition to 13 Coins, other businessesalso operate adjacent to Hyatt's lobby area, including Fonte Coffee and Eques, which is Hyatt's restaurant on the second floor. (Id. at 41:9-15.) He testified that he is aware that people who are not staying overnight use Hyatt's restrooms and that no one is or ever has been excluded from using Hyatt's restrooms unless they have been formally trespassed. (Id. at 42:10-21.) He testified that there are no signs anywhere on the premises indicating that only Hyatt's guests may use Hyatt's restrooms. (Id. at 42:22-25.)

Mr. Dantes also testified that people are never excluded from using the bathrooms in Hyatt's lobby and that anyone can use the bathrooms unless they have been "trespassed" or are "visibly not doing any kind of business within the hotel." (Dantes Dep. at 45:10-16.) Mr. Dantes testified that Hyatt permitted...