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July 3, 2017A Key West hotel has agreed to settle a case brought by a patron who was paralyzed on the hotel’s property for $10.75 million.
The hotel patron was visiting Key West in 2015. On the day of the incident, he had been relaxing and swimming with friends and at one point, dove from the hotel’s dock and struck his head, ultimately rendering him a quadriplegic.
The Plaintiffs’ (the injured patron and his wife) case was relying on the fact that there were no signs or other warnings posted around the dock to caution patrons from diving into the water. The Defendants in the case argued that the injured patron had ingested too much alcohol and was acting irresponsibly when the incident occurred. However, a vacationing nurse who happened to be in the water nearby, helped pull the Plaintiff to safety and said that he didn’t appear to be impaired by alcohol.
Defendants admitted that at some point in the past there were signs stating that diving from the dock was prohibited, yet could not provide a reason that the signs were removed, or had never been replaced.
The injured Plaintiff was vacationing in Florida to celebrate his 40th birthday.
Unfortunately, tragedies like this happen frequently throughout South Florida, in areas like Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Hollywood and other popular tourist spots. The atmosphere for vacationers in Fort Lauderdale and Miami is often one of sun, fun, relaxation, and in many cases, alcohol. However, hotel and resort owners should be well aware of this, as the ambiance in these resorts helps to promote these activities, and because of this, they should be taking every reasonable step to ensure the safety of their guests and other patrons, whether one-too-many pina coladas are involved, or not.
If you or someone you care about has been injured on another’s property, be it a hotel, grocery store, restaurant, retail store, or others, it is important that you contact a skilled and experienced Fort Lauderdale premises liability attorney who can investigate the facts and help determine if the property owner was negligent in causing such injuries. Without an attorney, a property owner will likely try to make a low-ball settlement offer to make the situation go away, or worse, deny the claim altogether. A Fort Lauderdale premises liability attorney will work to hold any negligent parties liable and ensure that your best interests are competently represented.
For more information on this topic or any other, please contact The Schulman Law Group at info@schulaw.com or at (954) 349-3300.