A court of appeals in Iowa denied Marriott International Inc.’s attempt to reverse a decision that would require the company to pay $4.9 million in a slip and fall accident lawsuit. 

A Scott County jury had determined that Marriott should be held liable for a guest’s injuries when she slipped and fell on a patch of ice outside of a Marriott hotel. Marriott had attempted to dispute that decision, challenging the customer’s evidence, her lawyer’s approach, and challenging the guest’s expert witness. 

However, a three-judge panel on the court of appeals rejected this effort in late November. Unanimously, the three judges did determine that the company should be held liable for the guest’s injuries. In response to Marriott’s efforts to attack the guest’s arguments, the panel said “Marriott now claims it preserved error by generally asserting the verdict resulted from passion or prejudice…But the district court did not address any ground of error related to opening statements or closing arguments.”

According to the panel, Marriott had not sufficiently argued that the guest’s expert witness, a fall prevention expert, inaccurately described Marriott’s snow and ice removal policy. The panel commented that “those claims are not properly before us.”

The Marriott slip and fall accident lawsuit was filed by Brenda A., a 50-year old software consultant from Texas. Brenda says that she was staying at a Marriott hotel, and slipped and fell on a patch of ice located on the sidewalk outside of the hotel.

Brenda says that she broke her ankle in three places as a result of the accident. She sought to hold Marriott accountable for her injuries, claiming that the hotel chain should have removed the ice. According to Brenda, she was not only physically injured, but was financially injured because she was prevented from taking business trips because of her injury, which in turn, required her to take on a lower-paying job that did not involve travel.

The Marriott slip and fall accident lawsuit says the Brenda suffers from chronic pain on a daily basis. She says that she has to be less active in her lifestyle. Allegedly, she faces financial burdens from her injury.

The appeals court was sympathetic to Brenda’s claim, saying that “she does not have the same employment or financial prospects [because of her injury]. She worries for her future and her family’s future.” 

The appeals panel then went on to reject Marriott’s claim that Brenda’s lawyer had inappropriately prejudiced the jury against Marriott. The appeals panel said that “we see no abuse of discretion in the district court’s conclusion the verdict was not flagrantly excessive.”

The American Bar Association notes that in personal injury cases like Brenda’s, people can win compensation to cover physical injury, emotional injury, and financial injury. People can also receive an award if the court determines that another party’s negligence was the cause of the individual’s injury.

The Times Square Chronicles stresses that in many cases, a person who is injured by be eligible for more than one kind of compensation.

The Marriott Slip and Fall Personal Injury Lawsuit is Case No. 18-1453, in the Court of Appeals in Iowa.