Sabatelli v. Omni Intern. Hotels, Inc.
| Decision Date | 05 February 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 79-196,79-196 |
| Citation | 379 So.2d 444 |
| Parties | Christina Marie SABATELLI, Appellant, v. OMNI INTERNATIONAL HOTELS, INC., Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Steven G. Glucksman, Miami, for appellant.
Anderson & Moss and Karen A. Gievers, Miami, for appellee.
Before PEARSON and HUBBART, JJ., and CHAPPELL, BILL G., Associate Judge.
Plaintiff, Christina Marie Sabatelli, while a patron in a bar owned and operated by defendant Omni International Hotels, Inc., was injured when she was attacked by another patron who smashed a highball glass into her face. In the suit brought by the plaintiff, the trial judge granted Omni's motion for a summary final judgment and this appeal is from that judgment.
The plaintiff argues that there were genuine issues of material fact; the defendant argues that the facts are undisputed. Therefore, we must view the record not only in the light most favorable to the party moved against, see Wills v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 351 So.2d 29, 32 (Fla.1977), but also must determine whether the facts, together with all reasonable inferences therefrom, show that the plaintiff does not have a case. See the general principle in General Truck Sales v. American Fire & Casualty Company, 100 So.2d 202 (Fla.3d DCA 1958); and see Five Point Company v. Neeley, 157 So.2d 526 (Fla.3d DCA 1963).
It is alleged that while the plaintiff was a patron on the defendant's premises (a semi-private club), another patron who subsequently became identified as Gloria Kiser Willis, without provocation from the plaintiff, wilfully, maliciously and viciously assaulted and battered the plaintiff. The depositions show that Willis, a party to the suit but not to this appeal, smashed a highball glass into the plaintiff's face, causing severe lacerations to her cheek. At the time of the assault, Willis was highly intoxicated.
Discovery showed, in addition, that the police officer who arrested Willis about ten minutes after the attack found Willis to be so drunk that she could not stand. Also, there was some evidence that the defendant had an employee on the premises of the club whose duty it was to check for membership cards and to confirm that prospective patrons, if not members, were registered guests of the hotel operated by the defendant. It may be inferred that this employee had an opportunity to observe Willis upon her admission to the bar. Willis was served at least one drink inside the bar, although she was...
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...defendant with a duty knew or should have known that a specific person was likely to assault someone. See Sabatelli v. Omni International Hotels, Inc., 379 So.2d 444 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); Angell v. F. Avanzini Lumber Co., 363 So.2d 571 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978); A Trysting Place, Inc. v. Kelly, 245 ......
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