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American Hospitality Management Co. of Minnesota v. Hettiger6/1/2005
A hotel operator appeals a mid-trial ruling in favor of a repairman injured on its premises while using one of its ladders. It argues that the trial court erred by instructing the jury as to a rebuttable presumption of negligence. We agree and reverse.
The repairman accompanied other air conditioning service personnel to a Holiday Inn. The repairman borrowed a ladder from the hotel operator to do the repairs. While using the ladder he fell from it and sustained severe injuries. That same day, the hotel operator destroyed the ladder.
The repairman sued the hotel operator in negligence and for spoliation of evidence. Before trial he filed a motion for summary judgment on his spoliation of evidence claim or, alternatively, for an appropriate trial remedy. He argued that if the ladder were available his expert could testify as to the defect in the ladder, that without the ladder he was now at a disadvantage in that he could not prove his claim of negligence. He also pointed out that, with the ladder destroyed, the hotel could even argue that the ladder had not been shown to have been defective.
In response, defendant argued that the hotel had no notice that a claim was imminent, such as a letter from plaintiff advising of a claim and identifying the evidence to be preserved. Nor was there any evidence that the loss of the ladder affected plaintiff's ability to prove his claim; hotel employees had testified in deposition that they knew the ladder was old and that a cross support was broken. Following the arguments the court announced it would deny the motion for summary judgment on the spoliation claim, but would instruct the jury as to a rebuttable presumption of negligence.
At trial, the Judge instructed the jury as follows:
"The Court has determined and now instructs you, as a matter of law, that American Hospitality is responsible for any negligence of the Holiday Inn Express agents and/or employees.
The defendant, American Hospitality disposed of the ladder involved in plaintiff, Edward Hettiger's claim on the date that he was injured. The disposal makes it difficult for the plaintiff to prove that American Hospitality was negligent with regard to the ladder in its condition or that such a condition caused plaintiff's injury.
In situations such as this, the Court has the discretion to shift the burden of proof from the plaintiff, Edward Hettiger, to defendant, American Hospitality. The Court has done so.
As a result of American Hospitality destroying the ladder which is the subject of this lawsuit, the Court has entered a presumption of negligence against Holiday Inn and has determined as a matter of law the following:
1, the ladder is presumed to be defective.
2, the defective ladder is presumed to have caused Edward Hettiger to fall.
This is a rebuttable presumption of negligence and the burden is on the defendant to overcome this presumption by the greater weight of the evidence.
If the defendant does not meet this burden by the greater weight of the evidence, then you must find the defendant negligent. This ruling does not eliminate defendant's right to prove negligence on the part of other parties involved in this case, whether named or not, as well as presenting proof to rebut the presumption of negligence I have instructed you on."
Defendant argues that this instruction went too far, that it assumed the truth of disputed facts and interfered with the jury's function of resolving conflicts in the evidence. Plaintiff argues that this issue was not preserved. We disagree with plaintiff as to the preservation issue, finding (without
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