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Richardson v. Sport Shinko8/29/1994
2.47
General Damages:
Renee Richardson $35,000.00
Thaddeus Richardson 1,000.00
TOTAL: $60,441.80
Pursuant to HAR 22, the Richardsons, on July 3, 1991, appealed the award to the circuit court and requested a trial de novo. HAR 22 provides in relevant part:
(A) Within twenty (20) days after the award is served upon the parties, any party may file with the clerk of the court and serve on the other parties and the Arbitration Administrator a written Notice of Appeal and Request for Trial De Novo of the action.
(B) After the filing and service of the written Notice of Appeal and Request for Trial De Novo, the case shall be set for trial pursuant to applicable court rules.
On July 2, 1992, twelve days before trial, Sport Shinko served an offer of judgment on the Richardsons pursuant to Rule 68 of the Hawaii Rules of Civil Procedure (HRCP) the amount of $70,000.00 to Mrs. Richardson and $5,000.00 to Mr. Richardson. The offer was not accepted and expired on its terms on July 12, 1992; trial commenced two days later on July 14, 1992.
The record indicates that, at trial, the Richardsons' primary theory of negligence against Sport Shinko was based on the following contentions: (1) the staples scattered in the Akala Room carpet constituted an unreasonably dangerous condition; (2) Sport Shinko had notice of that condition, yet failed to warn visitors of or remedy it; and (3) the Richardsons were injured as a legal result of Sport Shinko's actions or inactions.
During the trial, Mrs. Richardson testified that after kneeling on the staple in the Akala Room on October 21, 1989 and
while the paramedics were there, one of the guys that was working in the hotel room . . . walked over to where the outlet was where he saw me kneeling down. And I saw him kick the carpet or something and he came back and he said oh, look, I found another -- I found a staple in the carpet.
According to Mrs. Richardson, the employee gave the staple to one of the paramedics, who in turn gave the staple to her. Mrs. Richardson produced a staple at trial which she claimed to have been the same staple recovered by the employee.
Although the origin of the staples was never conclusively determined, the Richardsons elicited testimony from Guerrero and Eugene Virgo, a hotel night janitor, that stray staples could have been left in the room after the recent installation of a new carpet or from construction activities during a "Queen of the Universe" pageant held in the room a week earlier. Virgo testified that he cleans and vacuums the Akala Room during his shift after functions are held in that room. According to Virgo, vacuuming was the best way to detect debris in the carpet because the carpet's pattern made visual inspection difficult. More particularly, Virgo related that he could detect staples while vacuuming because they made a "clinking noise" in the vacuum.
Virgo recalled that, in the week preceding Mrs. Richardson's injury, he had removed and discarded staples found in the Akala Room carpet on three or four occasions while vacuuming. On the night after the pageant, he had found four or five staples; each night thereafter he had picked up fewer and fewer staples until no more could be detected. During this time, Virgo testified, he vacuumed the same-areas in the Akala Room twice to make sure that he had removed any foreign particles embedded in the rug. Virgo explained that he was eventually satisfied in his own mind that he had picked up all the staples in the area where Mrs. Richardson was later injured because he no long
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