| Louisiana
Man Sued Gallivant Times Square For Broken
Dresser Now His Lawyer To Visit Room
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
March 5 – 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.
The case is Smith
v. Interstate Management
Company LLC et al.,
20-cv-10867 (Failla)
***
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