LANCASTER – Counsel for a New Jersey woman who claimed she sustained injuries in a Lancaster inn, when the mirror which was hanging up in her hotel room fell from the wall and landed on her, is seeking the corporate defendant in the case to provide a representative to appear for a deposition.
Debra Sullivan of Delanco, N.J. first filed suit in the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas on Oct. 19, 2022 versus Sleep Tight, Inc. (doing business as “The Inn At Leola Village”) of Lancaster, John Calabrese of Naples, Fla. and Deborah Shirk of Ceola.
“On March 18, 2021, plaintiff was an invitee, licensee and/or otherwise legally on defendant’s premises, when, as a result of the negligence and/or carelessness of the defendants, the plaintiff was struck by a mirror that fell from the wall in her hotel room. As a result of this accident, the plaintiff suffered severe and permanent bodily injuries as more fully set forth at length below,” the suit said.
The suit added that defendants’ failure to inspect, maintain or repair this defect was the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries.
“As a direct result of the negligent and/or careless conduct of defendants, the plaintiff suffered various serious and permanent personal injuries, serious impairment of bodily function and/or permanent serious disfigurement and/or aggravation of pre-existing conditions, including but not limited to: Right knee tear, multi-level cervical disc bulges, cervical radiculopathy, sprain and strain of the entire spine, right shoulder, right arm, right wrist and right elbow, and any other ills and injuries, all to plaintiff’s great loss and detriment, ” the suit stated.
On Nov. 18, 2022, the defendants filed an answer and new matter which denied the plaintiff’s claims in their entirety.
“Discovery may demonstrate that plaintiff’s claims are barred, in whole or in part, by operation of the affirmative defenses set forth at Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 1030(a), which are incorporated by reference as if the same were set forth at length herein. Plaintiff’s claims may be barred, in whole or in part, by operation of comparative and/or contributory negligence. Plaintiff’s claims may be barred, in whole or in part, by operation of Pennsylvania’s Fair Share Act. Answering defendants lacked actual and/or constructive notice of the condition alleged to have caused plaintiff’s injuries, and therefore, answering defendants are not liable to plaintiff. Discovery may demonstrate that plaintiff assumed the risk of her injuries,” per the new matter.
“Discovery may demonstrate that plaintiff failed to mitigate her damages. Plaintiff has failed to obtain original process of an indispensable party, and therefore, plaintiff’s actions should be dismissed. Plaintiff’s claims may be barred, in whole or in part, by operation of the statute of limitations, doctrine of laches or similar limitations. Plaintiff’s claims may be barred, in whole or in part, by operation of her contract with Sleep Tight, Inc. (doing business as “The Inn At Leola Village”). Defendants John Calabrese and Deborah Shirk were out of possession landowners, and therefore, owed no legal duty to plaintiff.”
In response, the plaintiff replied to the new matter on Nov. 28, 2022 and also denied the veracity of that material as conclusions of law, to which no official response was required.
Furthermore, separate and substantially-similar answer/new matter and reply filings were lodged by the parties on Feb. 15 and Feb. 22, respectively.
UPDATE
On Sept. 5, plaintiff counsel filed a motion to compel a deposition from the defense, as the deposition which was supposed to have taken place was canceled and not rescheduled to this point.
“On July 12, 2023, plaintiff served a notice of deposition upon counsel for defendant Sleep Tight Inc. (doing business as “The Inn at Leola Village”). The deposition of defendant’s corporate designee was duly noticed for Sept. 1, 2023, without objection. On Aug. 31, 2023, counsel for plaintiff attempted to confirm the attendance of defendant’s corporate designee. However, counsel for defendant did not respond to plaintiff’s counsel. As such, plaintiff’s counsel cancelled the deposition to avoid a cancellation fee from the court reporter. To date, despite plaintiff’s counsel’s diligent efforts and strict compliance with 231 Pa. Code Section 4007, the defendant has not produced a designee for a deposition,” the motion stated.
“Under the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure, plaintiff is entitled to conduct the deposition of any party and/or a party’s corporate designee during the course of discovery. The deposition of defendant’s corporate designee is essential to establishing plaintiff’s theory of liability, in addition to understanding the full scope of plaintiff’s damages. Even further, defendant’s failure to produce a witness for a deposition during the course of discovery will ultimately prejudice the plaintiff at the time of arbitration and/or trial. Plaintiff’s counsel has expended time and resources during several attempts at scheduling the subject deposition. Now, with no new date selected, plaintiff must expend even more time and resources filing the instant motion.”
For three counts of negligence, the plaintiff is seeking judgment and damages not in excess of $50,000, plus all reasonable costs and any other relief the Court deems necessary.
The plaintiff is represented by Marc F. Greenfield of Spear Greenfield Richman Weitz & Taggart, in Philadelphia.
The defendants are represented by Joshua J. Bovender and Logan A. Nagle of Thomas Thomas & Hafer, in Camp Hill.
Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas case CI-22-06476
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com