Ogea v. Grand Casino of Louisiana, Inc., (1999)

• Court: Tunica-Biloxi Tribal Court
• Writing for the Court: JUDGE KATHRYN FOWLER VAN HOOF
• Decision Date: 30 September 1999
• Docket Number: 96-001
• Citation: Ogea v. Grand Casino of Louisiana, Inc. (Tunica-Biloxi Tribal Ct. 1999)
• Parties: AUDREY OGEA v. GRAND CASINO OF LOUISIANA, INC. TUNICA BILOXI

AUDREY OGEA v. GRAND CASINO OF LOUISIANA, INC. TUNICA BILOXI

No. 96-001

Tunica- Biloxi Tribal Court Tunica- Biloxi Nation

September 30, 1999

WRITTEN REASONS

JUDGE KATHRYN FOWLER VAN HOOF

Plaintiff Audrey Ogea, filed the instant petition as a result of an incident that occurred on December 31, 1994, naming Grand Casinos of Louisiana, Inc.-Tunica-Biloxi, as defendant. Plaintiff alleged that she was injured while inside Grand Casino Avoyelles after she was struck by a casino security guard. Plaintiff alleged that defendant, Grand Casinos of Louisiana, Inc. -Tunica-Biloxi, its agents, servants and employees, were solely at fault in causing plaintiffs injuries. Plaintiff alleged that she sustained back injuries and headaches as a result of this incident.

In Plaintiff's First Supplemental and Amending Petition for Damages, plaintiff amended her petition to name additional defendants, as follows: Tunica-Biloxi Indians of Louisiana Inc., TunicaBiloxi Gaming Economic Development Corporation. Plaintiff alleged that these defendants were additionally liable for the damages incurred on December 31, 1994. Plaintiff later dismissed Grand Casinos of Louisiana Inc.-Tunica-Biloxi and the Tunica-Biloxi Economic Development Corporation as defendants, leaving only the Tunica-Biloxi Indians of Louisiana, Inc. as defendant in this matter.

A trial of this case was held on March 11, 1998. After reviewing the pleadings, the evidence submitted and the trial testimony this Court finds as follows.

FACTS

Patrick Ogea, husband of Audrey Ogea, testified that he and Mrs. Ogea were in the casino for only a few minutes when he noticed a commotion. He first saw two men on the floor who were handcuffed, with another 4-5 men on top of them. Then, he saw a security guard coming across the casino. Mr. Ogea recalled that the security guard shouted a warning that he was coming before they came in contact.

Prior to the incident, the Ogeas had been walking down an aisle between slot machines. As his wife backed up to get out of the way, Ogea did move out of the way, as close as he could to his wife. They backed into an indention to get out of the way, and he stood in front of his wife, facing her. She could not back up anymore; they both had moved as far as they could out of the aisle. The security guard then slammed into him from the back, causing him to lose his balance and knock his wife down. The security officer ran into him from behind with his full weight. Mr. Ogea felt it was uncalled for because they were clearly out of the way when the security officer came by. Following the incident, Mr. and Mrs. Ogea reported the incident to the front desk, near customer service. After that, the security guard came back and apologized to them.

Audrey Ogea confirmed the version of events in her husband's testimony. She testified that after they had been in the casino for a few minutes, they noticed a commotion at the end of the aisle. She saw two men on the floor. About 1-2 minutes later, she heard someone say "Security guard, clear the way." As the guard came through, he was shoving with his arms. The guard shoved into her husband Pat, and then Pat knocked her down. The guard "pretty well slammed into" her husband with his fight arm. The casino was quite crowded, and there were other people in the aisle at the time the guard came through the aisle.

She maintained that there was nothing else she could have done to avoid being pushed. The security guard returned later admitted he was the one who came through earlier and apologized to them. She was aware of nothing that would have supported the guard's behavior.

Cynthia Ann Ayres was a witness to the incident. She was in the casino that night with her mother, Vera Dabbs, playing slot machines. She also saw two men fighting in the aisle. Security came from one direction to break up the fight. A big guy whom she believed was a security guard came from another direction; he was using profanity and pushing people out of the way in a rude manner. She saw this second guard running and coming into contact with the patrons. She heard him coming by, yelling and using profanity to tell patrons to move out of his way.

Vera Dabbs, Cynthia Ayres' mother, testified by deposition. She testified that she was present in the casino on the night of the incident. She recalled playing the slot machines when a commotion began at the end of her aisle. She noticed a fight, and also saw some security guards arrive at the fight. She then saw a security guard come down the aisle, yelling. She was on the left side of the aisle and Mrs. Ogea was on the right side of the aisle as the officer came down the aisle. The guard pushed Ms. Dabbs up against one of the machines and ran through the aisle. He also hit Ms. Ogea and pushed her down, causing her injury. She believed that the security guard that came through was a man who was large - meaning tall and stout. The guard was dressed in a uniform - a white shirt and dark trousers, and he ran through the crowd hollering "out of the way."

She believed the officer came into contact with plaintiff and knocked her down. The security guards already had the fight under control and had a fighter on the floor with handcuffs by the time this guard got to the scene. She didn't see what happened to the fight after that, because she was more concerned about the lady that was hurt. She knew Ms. Ogea was hurt because she was struck hard and was crying afterward.

Linda Chenevert, the security supervisor for the casino, remembered dispatching the security officers that night. She completed the guest incident report after Mrs. Ogea made her complaint. Plaintiff reported that a huge, black officer hit her in the back, but that she was not hurt. However, after 1:00 a.m., Mrs. Ogea said that her neck was hurting and her whole body was aching.

Ms. Chenevert further testified about security procedure at the casino. Casino procedure mandates that once an individual is subdued, there is no need for other officers to run through a crowd. The code "1043" indicates that everything is okay and there is no need to rush to the scene. She further stated that a security officer should not push a customer out of the way. The correct procedure to hurry through a crowd would be to announce that you are security and that you need to get through the crowd.

Keith Graham, an administrative assistant in the casino's marketing department, was employed as a security EMT at the time of the incident. On the night in question, Mrs. Ogea's chief complaint was that she was hit by a security guard and was hurt. When questioned about security procedure, he confirmed that once a fight was subdued, a supervisor would issue a "1043." He would never push a guest out of the way, although he might "guide" a guest to move. He would not run to respond to a "1018" (proceed with haste code), but would walk quickly.

Jimmy Bordelon was a security officer on duty on the night of the incident. Bordelon recalled that the casino was very crowded that night. He was one of the first to respond to the fight. When responding to the fight he came around a corner and saw two individuals fighting rough - one was choking the other. Bordelon called in a "1018" code for "officer needs assistance" at approximately 12:15 a.m. He then tried to break up the fight, but became involved in it. He did not know whether the two men were armed at the time.

Bordelon confirmed that security procedure would not allow a security officer to use profanity toward a customer. A security officer should not intentionally shove someone, but might do so only accidentally. The correct way to move through a crowd to respond to a fight was to loudly say C4security coming through, excuse me..." He did not recall anyone calling a "1043" that night. This code is normally called when things are under control, fighting patrons taken off the gaming floor.

Danny Smith was another casino security officer on duty that night. Officer Smith is a large, black man. He testified that he had never seen the plaintiff or her husband prior to trial. Smith recalled responding to a fight on December 3 1, 1994. He was not the first on the scene. He denied running into or pushing plaintiff or her husband. Officer Smith testified that he helped handcuff the fighting guests, so if someone ran through the aisle pushing, it was someone else. He personally would not run down an aisle and push people out of the way.

Connie Gaspard is a security coordinator for the casino. On the night of this incident, she was working as a security officer with the casino and was one of...