Thetford v. City of Clanton

• Decision Date: 18 September 1992
• Parties: Mary K. THETFORD, as Administratrix of the Estate of Shirley Ann Banks, deceased v. CITY OF CLANTON, et al. 1910567.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Page 835

605 So.2d 835

Mary K. THETFORD, as Administratrix of the Estate of Shirley Ann Banks, deceased v. CITY OF CLANTON, et al.

1910567.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

Sept. 18, 1992.

Ray O. Noojin, Jr. of Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton, Birmingham, for Mary K. Thetford.

Don G. DeCoudres, Birmingham, for City of Clanton.

James W. Garrett, Jr. of Rushton, Stakely, Johnston, & Garrett, P.A., Montgomery, for Holiday Inns, Inc., Williams Motels, Inc. and Eddie Gore.

PER CURIAM.

The trial court entered a summary judgment in favor of the defendants, the City of Clanton; Holiday Inn, Inc.; Eddie Gore, the manager of the Holiday Inn in Clanton; and Williams Motels, Inc., the operator of the Clanton Holiday Inn, in this wrongful death action. The plaintiff, Mary K. Thetford, appeals.

The following agreed summary of the facts was set forth in the pretrial order:

"On or about June 10, 1989, Shirley Ann Banks was a business invitee of the Holiday Inn in Clanton, Alabama. On or about the same date, Eddie Gore, the manager and employee of said Holiday Inn, accompanied [Michael] Banks to Shirley Ann Banks' room where, in the presence of a representative of the Clanton Police Department, the defendant [Gore] sawed through a locked door chain to gain entry to Shirley Ann Banks' room. Mr. Banks later took Shirley Ann Banks to another location, where he inflicted such severe injuries on her that she died as a proximate result of his beatings."

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-movant, we also note the following additional facts.

On June 6, 1989, Shirley Ann Banks telephoned the Chilton County sheriff's office to report an incident of domestic violence. The County had no deputies to respond to the call; therefore, the City of Clanton, at the request of the County, responded.

Officer Randy Morris, with the Clanton Police Department, answered the call, and upon his arrival at the Banks home he noted that Shirley Ann showed signs of physical abuse. He asked Michael Banks to leave the home for the night and told Shirley Ann she could file a complaint. Shirley Ann declined to file a complaint and Morris left. Morris reported the incident to the County, but he did not file a report as required by § 15-10-3(b), Ala.Code 1975.

The following day, Wednesday, June 7, Shirley Ann, with her two-year-old daughter, checked into the Holiday Inn in Clanton. She checked in under the name of Shirley Dickens. She told the desk clerk that she was hiding from her husband and requested that the desk clerk not tell anyone she was there. She also requested that her husband not be permitted to enter her room. The desk clerk noticed that Shirley Ann appeared to have been beaten and that she had a bald spot on her head.

On June 8, Michael showed up at the Holiday Inn to take Shirley Ann home. Michael testified that on June 7 he had learned that she was staying at the Holiday Inn by driving around hotels and motels from Montgomery to Birmingham looking for her automobile. He testified that he got her room number from a registration slip on the front seat of her automobile. He testified that he was worried about their child and that he went to the motel on June 8 to take the child away from Shirley Ann. Shirley Ann, according to his deposition testimony, admitted him willingly and willingly allowed him to leave with their child.

Later that day, the motel staff became concerned when they could not get a response from Shirley Ann's room. Eddie Gore called the City's police department to send someone. Morris responded to the call; he was not informed that the call concerned Shirley Ann. Shirley Ann admitted Morris to her room. Morris testified in his deposition that he recognized Shirley Ann from the prior call and that she was intoxicated. He also testified that Shirley Ann told him that Michael had beaten her again and that she had checked into the Holiday Inn to hide from Michael. She asked Morris not to tell anyone at the Holiday Inn who she was. Morris promised not to tell anyone, and he left her room. He told the staff of the Holiday Inn "that everything was okay and that the lady was all right." Morris did not file an incident report.

According to Michael's deposition testimony, on June 10 Shirley Ann telephoned him to take her home. Michael testified that he packed some of her things and took them to his car; that when he returned to the room, Shirley Ann asked him to get her a drink from a machine; and that while he was out of the room, Shirley Ann locked and chained the door. Michael said he had her key but could not re-enter the room because of the chain.

Michael went to the front desk and told Gore that he was Shirley Ann's husband and that she would not let him in the room. He also told Gore that his wife was "sick or crazy." Gore, after the Clanton police were called and appeared on the scene, went to Shirley Ann's door and unlocked it with his pass key. When Shirley Ann failed to respond to his call, Gore cut the chain on the door. Officer Peoples of the Clanton Police Department was there to witness the cutting of the chain.

Shirley Ann was on the floor beside the bed farthest from the door. There is conflicting testimony as to whether she was intoxicated. However, she agreed to go with Michael, but asked him to take her to her mother's house. In front of Gore and Peoples, Michael stated that he was going to kill Shirley Ann. Peoples testified in deposition as follows:

"A. "[After the chain was cut,] I didn't hear Mr. Gore make no statement as I can remember. No type statement was made by him. Banks went over to the female that was lying on the floor. He got her up and then he started talking to her. She asked him to carry her to her mama's. He said that he would take her. Then she start[ed] making preparation, combing her hair. They started getting ready to go. We [were] over by the doorway at that time. He said 'I will carry you to your mama's.'

"Q. Anything else?

"A. Not until a few minutes later when I made the statement when he said--I don't know what happened that caused him to say 'I am going to kill you' like that. We [Gore and Peoples] looked back and then he changed that statement, and then he started talking to us about it and said 'I didn't mean that.' "

Later that day, Michael and Shirley Ann went to the Ramada Inn motel in Prattville, where Michael fatally beat Shirley Ann. She died in her sleep in the early morning hours of June 11 of injuries suffered in that beating.

In April 1990, Mary Thetford, Shirley Ann's sister and her personal representative, filed a wrongful death action against Eddie Gore, Holiday Inn, Inc., and the City of Clanton. The complaint was later amended to add Williams Motels, Inc. Williams Motels, Inc., Holiday Inn, Inc., and Eddie Gore will hereinafter be referred to as the "hotel defendants." ¹ The hotel defendants and the City moved for a summary judgment, which the trial court granted. Thetford appeals.

A summary judgment is appropriate upon a showing that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Rule 56, A.R.Civ.P. In reviewing a summary judgment, this Court will view the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmovant and will resolve all reasonable doubts against the movant. Fincher v. Robinson Bros. Lincoln-Mercury, Inc., 583 So.2d 256 (Ala.1991). The present action was filed in April 1990; therefore, the applicable standard of review is the "substantial evidence rule." See § 12-21-12, Ala.Code 1975. "[S]ubstantial evidence is evidence of such weight and quality that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment can reasonably infer the existence of the fact sought to be proved." West v. Founders Life Assurance Co. of Florida, 547 So.2d 870, 871 (Ala.1989). Therefore, the issue on appeal is whether substantial evidence was presented to preclude summary judgment in favor of the hotel defendants and the City.

I.

This Court has not specifically addressed the standard of liability for an innkeeper's wrongful or unauthorized entry into a guest's room. However, the general rule appears to be as follows:

"After a guest has been assigned a room at an inn or hotel for his exclusive use, he has a right of occupation for all lawful purposes until it is vacated, subject only to the right of the innkeeper or his servants to enter the room at reasonable times and in a proper manner, and for such purposes as might be necessary in the general management of the hotel, or upon the happening of some unanticipated contingency....

"An innkeeper is liable if he or his servant unjustifiably or unreasonably interferes with his guest's right to privacy and to the peaceful enjoyment of his room."

40 Am.Jur.2d Hotels, Motels, and Restaurants § 61 (1968). Stated another way, the innkeeper has "an affirmative duty, stemming from a guest's rights of privacy and peaceful possession, not to allow unregistered and unauthorized third parties to gain access to the rooms of its guests." Campbell v. Womack, 345 So.2d 96, 98 (La.Ct.App.), cert. denied, 347 So.2d 247 (La.1977).

American Jurisprudence 2d states further concerning innkeeper liability:

"While statements are to be found that innkeepers are responsible for the exercise of a 'high degree' of care to prevent injury to their guests, according to a number of cases, the rule is that innkeepers do not owe the same duty to their guests that a common carrier owes to its passengers, and are not insurers of their safety, quiet, and repose; the obligation of innkeepers toward their guests is the exercise of reasonable care for their safety. A boardinghouse or lodginghouse keeper, like an innkeeper, is not an insurer of the safety of his boarders or lodgers, but he is only required to exercise reasonable care for their safety....

"Whether a proprietor of an inn, hotel, boardinghouse or lodginghouse or restaurant has exercised reasonable care...