Marriott
International, Inc. v. Perez-Melendez,
855 So. 2d 624 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003).
A hotel
guest was seriously injured when she fell into a drain outlet on the
property of the hotel. She brought action against the hotel in the
Orange County Circuit Court claiming that her injuries occurred as a
result of the hotel’s negligence as a premises owner and also in
providing a transportation system that abandoned guests in a very dark
and remote section of the hotel’s property. The jury returned a large
verdict in favor of the guest.
Ms.
Lippincott represented the hotel guest on appeal. The appellate court
affirmed the judgment for the guest, finding that the appellate
two-issue rule prevented reversal. Even though there may have been
problems in the guest’s negligent transportation theory, the hotel
failed to establish error regarding other theories of liability that
were sufficient to sustain the verdict.
