Arizona Resort and Other Recreational Facility Injuries
Each year many tourists visit Arizona's resorts and recreational facilities. Some trips can be ruined by an unexpected injury, which may lead to medical treatment/hospital stays.
November 12, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Arizona Resort and Other Recreational Facility Injuries
Article provided by The Law Offices of William D. Black
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Arizona has long been a popular and inviting destination for those seeking to escape cold, harsh winters at one of the state's many well-known resorts, golfing facilities or spas. Alternatively, for those who seek out the snow rather than attempting to avoid it, Arizona's picturesque mountain resort towns offer winter sports like downhill and cross-country skiing and snowboarding. Arizona also attracts a great number of outdoor adventurers who enjoy hunting, fishing, hiking and viewing the unique beauty of the state.
With the thousands of tourists, business travelers and others who enjoy Arizona's resorts and other accomodations each year, more than a few have had their trips ruined by an unexpected and ill-timed injury. Each year, people both out-of-state and from Arizona who stay at one of the area resorts or use other recreational accommodations encounter a wide range of injuries, sometimes treatable by emergency room visits, but other times requiring lengthier hospital stays. These injuries are often attributatle to the negligence of resort operators, golf facility operators, spa owners and other third-party contributors.
The types of injuries that people may suffer at resorts, golfing facilities, spas or other recreational facilities include:
-Slip and falls on wet pool decks, slippery entryways or on uneven sidewalks
-Golf cart injuries
-Swimming pool injuries and/or drownings caused by negligent equipment or lack of supervision
-Injuries caused by defective furniture or appliances in the resort rooms or other facilities
-Injuries caused by debris or falling objects during facility operations or renovations
-Injuries caused by inadequate lighting in stairways or outside entrances
-Injuries caused by loose or missing handrails or other railings on stairs
-Injuries due to inadequate security on recreational properties, such as parking lot assault and batteries, hotel& room rapes or sexual assaults, etc.
-Injuries caused by negligence maintenance and supervision of ski areas
-Injuries caused by negligent hiring of resort and recreational employees
Duties of Care and Resort Liability
When a guest is injured while staying at a resort or other recreational facility, he or she may be able to pursue a personal injury claim against the owner of the resort or facility or its/their employees. This, of course, depends on the circumstances of the injury. While resort/facility owners are not liable for every injury that occurs to their guests, they are liable for any injuries suffered by guests that are caused by negligence on the part of the resort/facility or its agents and employees.
Resorts and other recreational facilities owe a duty of care to their guests to keep and maintain their premises in a safe manner for their use. As part of this duty, they are required to regularly inspect the premises for any unsafe conditions that could cause an injury. They then have a duty to remove or repair any unsafe conditions they may find.
Resorts and other recreational facilities are responsible for removing not only dangerous conditions they have actual knowledge of, but also those conditions they reasonably should know about. This is referred to as "constructive knowledge." Generally for a condition to be one the resort should have known about, it must have been there for a long enough period of time that it should have been discovered during a reasonable inspection.
The duty of care extends to the guests' rooms. Resorts have a duty to inspect the rooms regularly and maintain them in a reasonably safe condition. This includes any furniture, fixtures and appliances in the rooms. Accordingly, resorts also must maintain the safety of any other equipment made available to guests, like golf carts, swimming pools, exercise equipment, ski lifts, ski runs, hiking trails and any other recreational equipment or facility.
The resorts' duty of care includes not only the common areas and guest rooms of the resorts and facilities, but also the premises dedicated to specific activities such as swimming pools, tennis courts and golf courses. The duty also extends to the parking lots used by the facility guests.
In addition, resorts and recreational facilities have a duty to provide reasonable security for guests, not only for the protection of guest property, but also for the guests' physical safety. If a guest is injured by another guest, employee or in some instances even a trespasser at the resort, the resort may be liable for those injuries.
In some cases, the duty of care owed by resorts and recreational facility operators to their guests also extends to visitors invited by guests to the resort. For example, if a guest invited her mother to join her for a day of golf, the resort then owes a duty of care to provide reasonably safe premises not only to the guest, but also to the guest's mother.
Bringing a Claim Against a Resort
The most common cause of action against a resort and/or other recreational facility for a guest's injury is negligence. In order to prove a negligence claim, the injured person must be able to show that:
-The resort owed him or her a duty of care
-The resort breached this duty
-As a result of its breach, the plaintiff was injured
-The plaintiff has recoverable damages for his or her injury. These damages may include recovery for past and future medical expenses, pain and suffering, loss of wages, loss of future earning capacity, compensation for permanent injury and, in some cases, punitive damages.
Negligence claims against resorts and recreational facilities can be based on varied legal theories. The best theories for each case depend on the facts particular to that case. Early investigation and preservation of evidence are both essential to successful claim recovery.
The resort owner also can be held liable for any injuries caused by the negligent acts of its employees. To be held liable, the employee must have been acting within the scope of his or her employment duties at the time of the injury. If the employee harms a guest while acting outside of his or her employment duties, then the resort generally is not liable for the injuries.
In cases where a person dies due to the negligent acts of the resort, the family members have the right to bring a wrongful death claim. Wrongful death actions can be pursued by certain close family relatives to allow them to recover for the loss of society and companionship of the decedent, the economic loss suffered to those relatives as a result of the decedent's death and for certain medical and other expenses brought about as a result of the death. For instance, a wrongful death action would possibly be an appropriate claim in a case where a child drowns in a swimming pool or hot tub or a person suffers a severe head injury in a skiing accident resulting in death, assuming that a resort or recreational facility was negligent in some fashion so as to proximately have caused the death.
Contact an Experienced Attorney
If you or a loved one have suffered an injury while spending time at one of Arizona's many resorts, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Resorts owe special duties of care to their guests and can be held legally responsible for many injuries that result when they fail to honor and uphold their duties.
For more information on your legal options, contact an experienced attorney today.
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