Justice David Gunn
The Houston [1st] Court of Appeals has affirmed a Brazos County trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a College Station Ramada Inn in a slip-and-fall case.
Richard Chalmers v. Prag Patel, Ramada College Station, Prag Patel d/b/A Ramada College Station, and Ramada Worldwide, Inc. (No. 01-23-00241-CV; January 30, 2025) arose from alleged injuries resulting from a fall at the hotel. In 2016, Plaintiff and his wife stayed at the Ramada College Station, where they were given a wheelchair-accessible room. When using the accessible shower (in which the floor continued directly from the bathroom into the shower with no water barrier besides a curtain), Plaintiff and his wife discovered water on the floor. Plaintiff cleaned it up with towels and (unsuccessfully) attempted to seek out a staff member to inform them of the water and to obtain more towels. He subsequently used the shower and slipped and fell on the water on the bathroom floor. Chalmers sued for premises liability. Defendants moved for summary judgment on both no-evidence and traditional grounds. The trial court granted the motions. Plaintiff appealed.
In an opinion by Justice Gunn, the court of appeals affirmed. Neither party disputed that Chalmers was an invitee on the premises. At primary dispute was whether the hotel had actual or constructive knowledge of an unreasonably dangerous condition on the premises. Plaintiff argued that a poorly placed shower curtain created such a condition, and that Defendants knew about it because they created it by installing the shower curtain. The shower curtain, however, was not the immediate cause of the injury; the water on the floor was (citing Brookshire Grocery Co. v. Taylor, 222 S.W.3d 406, 407 (TX 2006)). Since Plaintiff did not make the hotel aware of the water on the floor that allegedly created a dangerous condition, and the hotel had no knowledge of any prior complaints of its existence, no evidence existed that Defendants were aware of the water when Plaintiff slipped and fell. Additionally, there was no evidence showing how long the shower curtain had been leaking or water had been splashing on the floor before Plaintiff’s stay. Since Plaintiff did not meet his burden to show actual or constructive knowledge of the condition, the court affirmed.
TCJL Research Intern Geneva Cline researched and substantially drafted this article.
