| Louisiana
Man Sued Gallivant Times Square For Broken
Dresser Now Says Complained to Desk
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Sept 10 – Shawn Smith of
Louisiana was staying in a
room at the Gallivant Times
Square hotel at 234 West 48th
Street on July 26, 2019 when
his hand went through the
window, shattering it and
injuring him.
He sued
Interstate Hotels &
Resorts and Sean Leong; the
defendants removed the case
from state to Federal
court.
On March 5,
U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Katherine Polk Failla
had a proceeding scheduled for
3 pm. Inner City Press called
in to cover it, and announced
itself when asked.
Defense counsel said, "Can I
ask why?"
"Because it
is a Federal court proceeding,
not listed as any type of
settlement conference, and it
is public."
When
Smith's counsel belatedly
called it, the proceeding
began.
After being
unable to say if Smith's lack
of employment is due to the
incident, plaintiff's counsel
confided that the hotel's
Hicksville-based lawyer
"doesn't buy it."
He implied
that he might not, either,
saying that will be based on
visiting the room and seeing
the dresser at
issue.
Defense
counsel said Smith claimed one
of the drawers of the dressed
open up on its own, leading to
him smashing his hand through
the window, and that Smith's
girlfriend had the same story,
but another drawer.
He said he
visited the room a week after
the incident, and it had been
occupied by another guest.
Whether the dresser is still
in the room or in storage is
not known.
It all seems to
ride now on Smith's lawyer
viewing the room, and in
essence deciding if he
believes his client or not.
Discovery is due in August.
On March 24,
Judge Failla held another
proceeding, and Inner City
Press again covered it. After
a discussion of the SDNY's
centralized calendaring system
for jury trials, the trial was
set for December 6.
Now on September
10, another proceeding in the
case. There was talk of more
discovery - a status report
says "we have learned at
Plaintiff's deposition, for
the first time, that he or his
friend reported the allegedly
defective condition to
defendant employees working at
the front desk prior to his
accident."
But, it was said,
no record exists, and it is
unlikely that in a Times
Square hotel anyone would
remember an oral complaint,
years later. Many employees
have left. Judge Failla said,
You had six months to do
discovery. And, it seems, the
excuse that the facility was
or is impacted by COVID is
wearing thin.
The case is Smith
v. Interstate Management
Company LLC et al.,
20-cv-10867 (Failla)
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2021 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
