Paraskevaides v. Four Seasons Washington
| Citation | 148 F.Supp.2d 20 |
| Decision Date | 19 June 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV. 98-2802(RCL).,CIV. 98-2802(RCL). |
| Parties | Thlema G. PARASKEVAIDES, et al Plaintiffs, v. FOUR SEASONS WASHINGTON Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
Nicholas H. Cobbs, Washington, DC, for plaintiffs.
Karla Grossenbacher, Seyfarth Shaw, Washington, DC, for defendant.
Before the Court are cross motions for summary judgment. The plaintiffs move for partial summary judgment, requesting that the Court strike the defendant's affirmative defense under D.C.Code Ann. §§ 34-101, and find the defendant liable for the plaintiffs' damage. If the Court enters judgment in the plaintiffs' favor, the plaintiffs also request a brief trial on the quantum value of the property. The defendant's cross motion for summary judgment requests that the Court find that the defendant's statutory affirmative defense is fatal to the plaintiffs' common law claims. The Court will deny the plaintiffs' partial motion for summary judgment, and grant the defendant's summary judgment motion, finding the defendant not liable for the plaintiffs' property loss.
There are two aspects of law at issue here, one common law, and one statutory. Under the common law doctrine of infra hospitium, an innkeeper is strictly liable for loss or damage to a guest's property. But, in the District of Columbia (hereinafter "DC"), as in many other jurisdictions, this common law doctrine has been limited and qualified by statutory enactment. In DC, the statutory limitation exists in the provision codified at D.C.Code Ann. §§ 34-101. In pertinent part, that statute reads that:
(a) If a hotel, motel, or similar establishment in the District of Columbia which provides lodging to transient guests: (1) provides a suitable depository (other than a checkroom) for the safekeeping of personal property (other than a motor vehicle); and (2) displays conspicuously in the guest and public rooms of that establishment a printed copy of this section (or summary thereof); that establishment shall not be liable for the loss or destruction of, or damage to, any personal property of a guest or patron not deposited for safekeeping, except that this sentence shall not apply with respect to the liability of that establishment for loss or destruction of, or damage to, any personal property retained by a guest in his room if the property is such property as is usual, common, or prudent for a guest to retain in his room. In the case of any personal property of a guest or patron deposited in such a depository for safekeeping, that establishment shall be liable for the loss or destruction of, or damage to, that property to the extent of the lesser of $1,000 or the fair market value of the property at the time of its loss, destruction, or damage.
(b) If a hotel, motel, or similar establishment in the District of Columbia which provides lodging to transient guests maintains a checkroom (conspicuously designated as such) where guests and patrons may deposit personal property, that establishment shall, if it conspicuously posts a printed copy of this section (or summary thereof), be liable for the loss or destruction of, or damage to, that property only to the extent of the lesser of $200 or the fair market value of the property at the time of its loss, destruction, or damage unless the destruction or damage is caused by its agent or servant.
The plaintiffs were guests at the defendant's hotel in Washington, DC. Upon arrival the plaintiffs placed and locked valuables in their room safe. The plaintiffs then proceeded to leave the room for the day. Upon their return, the plaintiffs found their room ransacked, their room safe broken into, and their valuables missing. The plaintiffs called hotel security and the DC metropolitan police, both of whom responded immediately. There was no sign of forced entry into the room safe.
The defendant seeks to disclaim liability, invoking D.C.Code Ann. §§ 34-101 as an affirmative defense. The plaintiffs seek to strike that defense, leaving the Court open to rule on the issue of liability, as requested in the plaintiffs' motion.
This Court had jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332, and venue pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391.
Pursuant to the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(d), a court may enter a summary judgment ruling on the issue of liability alone, even though a genuine issue of material fact exists as to damages. The court may summarily enter an interlocutory judgment on the liability question, where the issue of damages must await trial. In resolving a motion for partial summary adjudication, the court is to apply the same standards and criteria used for evaluating full motions for summary judgment. As such, disposition of a summary judgment motion requires analysis of the following: (a) the substantive law raised by the motion, (b) facts material to the law invoked by the motion, (c) the facts contained in the record, and (d) whether the moving party has shown that there is no genuine dispute of material fact and that they are entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. If so, the burden shifts to the non-moving party to show that there are specific facts demonstrating that there is a genuine dispute of material fact.
In regards to stipulated facts contained in cross motions for summary judgment, as we have in the instant case, the parties' individual stipulations to facts in their motions support the conclusion that no genuine dispute as to material fact exists for a fact-finder to resolve. Miyazawa v. City of Cincinnati, 45 F.3d 126, 127 (6th Cir.1995). However, the court must still consider each cross motion on its own merits, viewing all facts and reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Wiley v. United States, 20 F.3d 222, 224 (6th Cir.1994). In order for either party to survive a motion for summary judgment the party must demonstrate that there is evidence upon which a jury could reasonably find for the non-moving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248-252, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).
Because we are dealing with cross motions for summary judgment each party has to be treated, for analytical purposes, as though they are the moving party and must presume the concomitant burdens. Wiley at 224. If the summary judgment movant would have the burden at trial then that movant has the burden on summary judgment to prove all of the elements that he would have to prove at trial. If the summary judgment movant would not have the burden at trial then that party can either defend against the opposition's summary judgment motion by negating a material element by putting on an affirmative defense, or by showing the absence of proof in the record necessary to prove the elements of the movant's case. All reasonable doubt should be construed in favor of the non-moving party because of the repercussions of summary judgment in denying the possibility of trial and factfinder disposition. Luden's Inc. v. Local Union No. 6 Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers' Int'l Union of America, 28 F.3d 347, 353 (3d. Cir.1994).
In this case, and in regards to the parties' relative positions as summary judgment movants, the plaintiffs would have the burden at trial. As such, in order to prevail on their motion for summary judgment the plaintiffs have to prove that the elements of their claim are satisfied. The defendant has chosen to attempt to negate the elements of the plaintiffs' claim in conjunction with the use of an affirmative defense.
E. Plaintiffs' Complaint
The plaintiffs' complaint makes the following claims. The defendant's lack of proper screening and monitoring of its employees constitutes gross negligence, which was the proximate cause of the theft of the plaintiffs' property. The defendant warranted safe and secure lodging on which the plaintiffs relied. The defendant knew or should have known the relative value of the property that the plaintiffs would keep in the safe based on the several prior occasions on which the plaintiffs stayed at the defendant's hotel. The defendant was obligated to maintain control over that master key. The defendant knew or should have known that the master key to the safe in the plaintiffs' room was missing, and should have notified the plaintiffs of that status. The defendant's failure to do either constitutes gross negligence.
F. Plaintiffs' Summary Judgment Motion and Defendant's Cross Motion
In their motion for summary judgment the plaintiffs contend that the defendant cannot avail itself of the affirmative defense included in the statute, namely, that the plaintiffs were put on notice of the defendant's non-liability under §§ 34-101, because the defendants did not strictly follow the statutory procedure so as to trigger the liability bar. Statutory provisions that deviate from established common law are to be strictly construed. Osbourne v. Capital City Mortgage Corp., 727 A.2d 322, 325 (D.C.1999); Picker v. Searcher's Detective Agency, Inc., 515 F.2d 1316, 1319 (D.C.Cir.1975). In this case, § 34-101 deviates from common law, which makes host hotels amendable to suit for property loss, by barring liability of a host hotel if certain conditions are met. The plaintiffs claim that because the defendant failed to conspicuously display a printed copy of the DC law in the private hotel and public rooms sufficient to put the plaintiffs on full notice of the defendant's non-liability, the defendant cannot avail itself of the affirmative defense that it would otherwise have at its disposal. The plaintiffs maintain that the defendant has the burden of proving its compliance with the § 34-101, and that the defendant cannot meet this burden because evidence exists in the record showing the defendant...
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