Reference no: EM133199853

Case - Jane's Bad Day

Jane arrived at the Overlook Hotel without a reservation and drove into to the valet parking area. When she stepped out of her car, Alex the valet driver was driving a car way too fast through the area and didn't see Jane until it was too late. He ran over her left foot, breaking her ankle.

Jane limped into the hotel and saw sign near the front door that said, "WATCH YOUR STEP." On her way to the front desk, she slipped on a puddle of coffee that a guest had spilled in the lobby five minutes earlier. She fell and broke her left hip.

Then Jane remembered that her friend Joan was staying at the Overlook that night, so she called her and Joan told Jane, "You can stay with me. Come on up." Jane got on the elevator to go up to Joan's room, but about half way up, the elevator suddenly fell to the ground floor, breaking Jane's left knee.

Then Joan came down and they decided to go swimming. At the pool, they saw a sign that said "GUESTS ONLY - SWIM AT YOUR OWN RISK," but they both went in anyway. When Jane got into the pool, she stepped on broken glass at the bottom of pool and cut her right foot.

Then Jane decided to go the hospital and she went to get her car. When Alex brought the car up, Jane did not tip him, so when she was getting in the car he slammed the car door on her left hand, breaking all five fingers.

After she recovered, Jane sued the Overlook for all of her injuries. Will she win her case? Explain why or why not, and if she will win, what remedies might she receive?

Every time you say, "it depends," what does it depend on?

1) Read the tragic tale of Jane's Bad Day and textbook. Each group member list all of Jane's injuries and for each one, state if you think Jane will win or lose her lawsuit for that injury and why. Don't divide these up among your group - each member complete all of them yourself.

2) Reply to the other group member's first post. For each injury, agree or disagree and explain why. The points will be higher for this part because now you know more about it: Look at the elements of each tort so far: negligence, res ipsa loquitur, attractive nuisance, and negligence per se. For each injury, state whether you think Jane can use any or all of the torts in her case and explain why.

Here's an example: For Jane's broken foot, she can win her case for negligence. The hotel owed her a duty to exercise reasonable care for her safety. Alex breached the duty by driving too fast. This injury was foreseeable because Alex should know it could happen if he drives too fast where there are a lot of people. His breach of the duty by driving too fast was the proximate cause of Jane's injury. She can prove all of the elements of negligence, so she can win. Jane could also sue for negligence per se if Alex was breaking a public safety law by driving so fast. If he was, then she can also win that case too. Her remedies could include compensatory damages for her lost income, medical bills, pain, suffering, and emotional distress. She could not win punitive damages unless Alex intended to hit her.