Legal-Ethical Paper: Case of North Broward Hosp. v. Kalitan : Please use the following Headings:, APA 6 Style. Introduction of caseIdentification of legal issueIdentification of ethical issueDelibera
Hospitality Law & Ethics
University of Aruba
Jose Marcano
Law Case – 9.2
Did the resort exercise reasonable care?
Reasonable care is the degree of caution and attention that an ordinarily prudent and reasonable person will use under similar circumstances. 1This is a standard used to assess a legal obligation and determines whether a person is negligent, which means that he/she did not exercise reasonable care.2
The resort didn’t exercise reasonable care because reasonable care requires you to be aware and correct potentially harmful situations that could happen in the future.3 In this case, the resort could have foreseen that a catastrophic event could happen if the cable car encounters a technical failure or a breakdown.
In this case, the cable car’s manufacturer recommended weekly inspections to the cable car, and the resort did not follow this recommendation, which shows the resort’s negligence and the lack of reasonable care attached to the cable car and the skiing activity.
What level of negligence, if any, was present? Ordinary negligence? Gross negligence?
Negligence is a failure to take reasonable care to avoid causing injury or loss to another person.4 In this case, the resort can me accused of gross negligence, which is defined as “The reckless or willful failure to use even the slightest amount of reasonable care.”5 When the resort completely disregarded the advice of doing maintenance weekly, it can already be considered as gross negligence, since it shows the indifference of the resort for the welfare of the guests.
What amount of money do you think a jury would recommend the resort be required to pay to compensate Christine Metz for her loss, if it is found to have committed a tort against her?
In the case of North Broward Hosp. v. Kalitan, this case came up after complications from carpal tunnel surgery left appellee Susan Kalitan severely injured. This surgery was made in the North Broward Hospital, and it was stated that the punitive damages of the hospital could reach $750,000 to $1.5 million if proved that there was gross negligence. 6
If it is found to have committed tort against her, the jury would recommend both compensatory damages to cover the medical bills and punitive damages considering the incident was gross negligence. The girl is permanently paralyzed from the neck down, which leaves her handicapped for the rest of her life. For the punitive damages the jury would recommend around $750.000 to $1.5 million and the compensatory damages would be covering all medical expenses the girl has.
Are the resort’s defenses valid ones? Why or why not?
The resort stated the following: all skiers assumed risk when skiing, the manufacturer’s recommendation was simply a recommendation and their inspection program demonstrated they had exercised reasonable care all the time. The defenses of the resort are not valid, because these statements would not hold up in court. Skiers do assume risk when skiing, but the accident was due to the negligence by the resort, because they were negligent with the maintenance of he cable car, which made the technical problem to occur.
1 'Reasonable Care Law And Legal Definition' (US Legal) <https://definitions.uslegal.com/r/reasonable-care/> accessed 22 March 2020.
2 'Reasonable Care' (Law.com - Legal Dictionary, 2020) <https://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=1730> accessed 22 March 2020.
3 Barth S, and Hayes D, Hospitality Law (3rd edition, 2009)
4 'What Is Negligence?' (Legal Services Commission of South Australia, 2013) <https://lawhandbook.sa.gov.au/ch29s05s01.php> accessed 22 March 2020.
5 Barth S, and Hayes D, Hospitality Law (3rd edition, 2009)
6North Broward Hosp v Kalitan [2017] Supreme Court of Florida, 219 So.3d 49 No SC15-1858 (Supreme Court of Florida).
