Sarah B. Kline v. 1500 Massachusetts Avenue Apartment Corporation, 439 F.2d 477 (1970)

Citation: Sarah B. Kline v. 1500 Massachusetts Avenue Apartment Corporation, 439 F.2d 477 (1970)
Parent Document: Sarah B. Kline v. 1500 Massachusetts Avenue Apartment Corporation, 439 F.2d 477 (1970)
Jurisdiction: DC (municipal)
Effective Date: 1970-09-08
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/295292/sarah-b-kline-v-1500-massachuset... ↗

Full Text

2,108 chars

51
The panel opinion attempts to liken the law involving this combination office-apartment building to the law relating to hotels and innkeepers,5 but even with respect to hotels the law recognizes that the reasonable care which an innkeeper must exercise for the safety and comfort of his guests varies with the grade and quality of the accommodation offered by the hotel.6 The panel cites the note in 70 A.L.R.2d 621 (1960) in support of its claim. That note revolves around a Minnesota case deciding that the operator of a beer establishment owes a duty to its patrons to exercise reasonable care to protect them from injury at the hands of an intoxicated patron on the premises. Such law has no application to the facts here. The A.L.R. note cited by the panel does make minor reference to hotels and assault and battery but the cases discussed therein give little or no support to the thesis of negligence advanced by the panel opinion. Kingen v. Weyant, 148 Cal.App.2d 656, 307 P.2d 369 (1957) is cited for the principle that an innkeeper's duty is limited to the exercise of reasonable care and he is "liable only when he was negligent in receiving or harboring guests of known violent or vicious propensities." (Emphasis added). Annot., 70 A.L.R.2d, supra at 646. Gurren v. Casperson, 147 Wash. 257, 265 P. 472 (1928) is a similar case holding that a guest in a hotel assaulted by another guest who was intoxicated, after the guest had expressly warned the landlord and requested protection from this specific person, may recover his damages from the hotel owner. Fortney v. Hotel Rancroft, 5 Ill.App.2d 327, 125 N.E.2d 544 (1955) is another case described in the note. Therein, a new trial was ordered to determine the hotel's responsibility where an intruder, found in the guest's room when he returned after being out several hours, struck the guest and caused the loss of an eye. At issue was how the intruder had gained admission to the room with the key in the possession of the night clerk and without being noticed by the night clerk. These cases obviously have little or no application here.

Other Sections in This Document (253)

Full Text