Woman Files Suit Against Pres. Trump’s D.C. Hotel

A Virginia woman has filed a $1 million lawsuit against Donald Trump’s Washington, DC hotel. The federal government is also named in the lawsuit. The woman was coming out of the building when she fell down some steps. She claims that the lack of a handrail contributed to her injuries. The woman claims that the fall has caused her to experience severe physical and emotional injuries and is seeking compensation in the amount of $1 million.

The building is the Old Post Office Building located near the White House. The woman says she wanted to stay there because of its association with the President. The federal government leases the property to the hotel for use as a hotel and has thus also been named in the lawsuit.

If the woman’s claims are accurate and she did, in fact, suffer an injury that could have been avoided had there been railing, then her case is likely to be successful and then the question would come down to damages. Below, we’ll discuss how the hotel could defend itself from this claim.

The Steps Were Not Open to the Public

If the steps were closed off to the public and the woman was in an area that she wasn’t authorized to be, this would put a major dent in her lawsuit against the hotel. Areas that are closed off to the public have a much higher liability threshold for proprietors and claimants are severely limited in what kinds of damages they are allowed to recover.

The Woman Caused Her Own Injury By Recklessness or Inattention

If the hotel can successfully argue that the woman is (at least partly) responsible for her own injuries they can severely reduce their own liability. For instance, they could claim that she was looking at her phone and didn’t know where she was going. Had she been paying attention to the steps, she would have known there was no railing and been more careful. While the hotel may still be liable for (even a majority) of the blame, some of the blame would be assigned to the woman and thus reduce her damages by that amount.

Additionally, if the hotel claims that some reckless behavior, such as running down the steps caused her to trip and fall, the link between the lack of a railing and the woman’s injuries becomes fuzzier.

Hotel Will Likely Target Damages

In a case like this where a proprietor maintained a dangerous condition on their property, the best course of action is to target the extent of the woman’s damages. In other words, to try to claim that her injuries are not as serious as she says they are. In cases where her credibility comes into question, jurors and judges have a difficult time awarding damages to injury victims that insult their intelligence. The hotel will likely settle this case somewhere in the realm of $500,000 to $600,000 depending on the credibility of the victim’s medical records.

Talk to a Miami Personal Injury Attorney Today

If you’ve been injured by a negligently maintained property, the Miami premises liability attorneys at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. can help you recover damages related to your injuries. Call today for a free consultation.

Resource:

cnn.com/2019/06/12/politics/ellen-snow-trump-washington-hotel/index.html

https://www.goldfarbpa.com/three-u-s-companies-hit-with-multiple-wrongful-deaths-in-u-k-fire/