LANCASTER – A Marriott hotel and the City of Lancaster have moved to strike punitive damages from the lawsuit brought by a local man and a South Carolina woman, who alleged they were struck by a wooden beam which fell from the ceiling as they were dining inside that same hotel’s restaurant.
John Stafford Skehan of Lancaster and Mary Campbell Skehan of Columbia, S.C. first filed suit in the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas on Oct. 16 versus Aimbridge Hospitality, LLC of Plano, Texas, Lancaster Marriott At Penn Square and Marriott International, Inc. of Bethesda, Md., Hawk Industries, Inc. of Littlestown, the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Lancaster, Doe 1, Doe 2 and John Does 3-15.
“On or about Oct. 24, 2021, plaintiffs John Stafford Skehan (“Jack”) and Mary Campbell Skehan (“Mary Campbell”), were lawfully present, as business invitees, seated at a dining table inside Plough restaurant, which is located within the Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square, in the City of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Jack Skehan and Mary Campbell Skehan are related as brother and sister,” the suit said.
“Aimbridge operates the hotel and restaurant complex (doing business as “Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square”), in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It is believed, and therefore alleged, that Aimbridge owns the leasehold improvements upon land owned and leased to Aimbridge by the Redevelopment Authority, City of Lancaster. Aimbridge operates approximately 1,500 hotels and restaurants worldwide under license agreements with various brands.”
The suit added that Aimbridge owns the leasehold improvements and business assets of Plough, a restaurant that is within the Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square complex and operates the Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square under franchise, or license, agreement with Marriott.
Furthermore, the suit explained that Marriott permits Aimbridge to use ‘Marriott’ and Marriott’s trademarks on buildings, signs, invoices, menus, stationary, etc., by a contract between the two, giving the public the reasonable belief that Marriott operates the subject hotel complex – and that Hawk Industries, by direction of Aimbridge, designed the interior of Plough restaurant, to include the wooden beams attached to the ceiling.
“Upon information and belief, Aimbridge approved Hawk’s design for Plough restaurant, which included wood beams attached to the ceiling. Plough restaurant was designed, and built, with approximately sixty decorative wood (or, faux wood) beams attached to the ceiling of the dining room. On the aforementioned date, one of the beams detached from Plough’s ceiling and fell, striking Jack Skehan, who had been seated at a table in the dining room. Seated at the same dining table, and within the ‘zone of danger’, was Mary Campbell Skehan, who was grazed by the beam and witnessed the wood beam fall upon her brother, Jack,” the suit stated.
“Upon information and belief, business entity, or person, Doe No. 1 was subcontracted by Hawk to install the wooden beams on the ceiling of Plough restaurant. Upon information and belief, presently unknown business entity Doe No. 2 was the manufacturer of the wooden beams that were installed on the ceiling of Plough restaurant. Upon information and belief, presently unknown business entities, or persons, Does 3-15 provided various services, or performed various actions, or failed to correctly perform certain necessary actions, all of which may have contributed to the wood beam falling from the ceiling of Plough restaurant. As a direct and proximate result of the incident, both plaintiffs were injured, with Jack sustaining lifelong injuries.”
UPDATE
The defendants filed preliminary objections on Nov. 14, seeking to strike punitive damages from the plaintiffs’ case.
“In Count II of their complaint, plaintiffs allege that defendants acted in a wanton manner and demanding punitive damages for defendants’ actions. In addition to actual damages, punitive damages may be awarded to punish a defendant for outrageous acts and to deter it or others from engaging in similar conduct. Plaintiffs have not averred any facts to establish that defendants engaged in any outrageous, egregious conduct in reckless disregard of plaintiff’s rights or any facts which could possibly lead to punitive damages,” according to the objections.
“In the present case, plaintiffs have failed to allege with sufficient specificity any factual averments regarding any specific acts or alleged omissions on defendants’ part which rise to the level of conduct sufficient to recover for punitive damages. In fact, plaintiffs make no allegations whatsoever in support of their demand for punitive damages. The complaint lacks any factual allegation concerning defendants’ motives or the relationship between plaintiffs and defendants which suggest any evil motive toward plaintiffs. Since plaintiffs have failed to plead any facts which would support a claim of reckless conduct, the entirety of Count II and all claims for punitive damages must be dismissed. Accordingly, defendants respectfully request this Court to enter the accompanying order dismissing with prejudice plaintiffs’ claims for punitive damages against them.”
For counts of negligence, wantonness and negligence – zone of danger, the plaintiff is seeking damages in excess of the jurisdictional minimum of the Court, plus interest, costs, attorney’s fees and any other relief that the Court deems just and proper.
The plaintiff is represented by Steven D. Guinter of Dillsburg and J. Nathaniel Holmes of Boles Holmes White, in Birmingham, Ala.
The defendants are represented by Steven H. Eichler of Margolis Edelstein, in Philadelphia.
Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas case CI-23-07346
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com