PHILADELPHIA – A local woman’s negligence lawsuit brought after she slipped on the floor of the MGM Borgata’s Buffet in Atlantic City, New Jersey will remain in a Philadelphia federal court, after the defense’s attempt to dismiss it for improper venue was rejected by a judge.
Donnetta Holmes of Philadelphia first filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Feb. 17, 2021 versus MGM Resorts International.
According to the complaint, Holmes was dining at the buffet in February 2019 when she slipped on an unattended buttery surface on the floor. The suit added that the restaurant’s management failed to warn diners of the slip hazard.
Holmes filed one count of premises liability negligence against the hospitality company, alleging MGM picked an improper flooring type for the premises and the probability of slip hazards, failed to monitor the floor for slip hazards and failed to place cautionary signs warning of the danger to diners like Holmes.
After MGM Resorts International was dismissed from the suit (as it was not the owner of the property) and Marina Development Company, LLC was substituted as a defendant in an amended version filed on Aug. 6 of last year – the defendant filed a motion on Jan. 18 to dismiss the case for improper venue or alternatively, transfer it to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey’s Camden Vicinage.
The defendant’s rationale for this was that the fall took place in a casino located in New Jersey and the named defendant is also based there – while, in its view, there was no connection to a Pennsylvania court outside of the fact that the plaintiff is based in Philadelphia.
UPDATE
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Juan R. Sanchez denied the defendant’s motion in an order issued May 17, and gave the defendant 21 days to answer the amended complaint.
“The instant motion is Marina District Development Company’s first Rule 12 motion. The only defense raised in the motion and accompanying brief is improper venue. The arguments for improper venue do not discuss personal jurisdiction, either as a separate defense or as the basis for venue being improper under Section 1391(c)(2). Marina District Development Company merely argues venue is improper because it is a resident of New Jersey,” Sanchez said.
“It is possible, however, that a business entity defendant can be a resident of multiple states for purposes of a venue analysis – simply put, being a resident of New Jersey does not mean Marina District Development Company is not also a resident of Pennsylvania. Marina District Development Company’s waiver constitutes consent to personal jurisdiction and therefore, this district is a proper venue for this action and dismissal under Rule 12(b)(3) would be improper.”
Sanchez added that after extensive review of the private and public factors mandated by Section 1404(a) and explained in Jumara, he found that transfer was “not warranted.”
“Holmes’s choice of venue in this district ‘should not be lightly disturbed,’ and Marina District Development Company has not met its burden for establishing the need for transfer. The motion to transfer is therefore denied,” Sanchez concluded.
For a lone count of negligence, the plaintiff is seeking compensatory damages in excess of $75,000, plus interest, costs and such further relief as the Honorable Court deems just.
The plaintiff is represented by Tobias Hamal Brown of Brown & Associates, in Philadelphia.
The defendant is represented by Russell L. Lichtenstein of Cooper Levenson April Niedelman & Wagenheim, in Atlantic City, N.J.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:21-cv-00722
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com