This personal injury action presents an issue of whether a hotel's duty of care to a guest requires that, in lawfully evicting the guest, the hotel act reasonably.

Groh planned to spend the night of March 3, 2007, with friends visiting night clubs in downtown Denver. She reserved a room at the Westin's downtown hotel. Although Groh was the only registered guest, two of her female friends checked in with her and the Westin gave each of them a key to the room. After having consumed alcoholic beverages throughout the evening, Groh, the two girlfriends, and eight other persons gathered in the room. Around 2:45 a.m., a security guard heard loud noises coming from Groh's room. Although no other guests had complained, the guard went to the door and asked for the person in charge. Over the next few minutes, a series of escalating interactions occurred among this guard, a second guard, the hotel manager, Groh, and some of the others in the room. One guard entered the room without Groh's permission, to which she objected. During these interactions, at least one person told the Westin employees that everyone in the group was "drunk," "that was the whole purpose" of the room having been rented, and the guard could not expect them to leave because "We are drunk. We can't drive." Ultimately, because Groh was the registered guest, the manager asked that she stay, but would not let the others remain. Groh said that she would leave as well. During the negotiations between Groh and the Westin employees, several members of her party decided to leave the hotel and were not involved in any of the following events. Shortly after 3:00 a.m., Groh and the remainder of her group were escorted to the front entrance of the hotel by the guards. Although police officers were on the premises investigating an unrelated incident, the Westin did not involve them. The first security guard blocked the doorframe with his body as the last person exited. One of Groh's friends asked the guard, "Hey, man, it's freezing out here, can we wait in the lobby while we get a cab?" The guard crossed his arms and said, "No, get the f* * * out of here."1 Groh and the remaining six persons in the group walked down a ramp into the parking garage below the hotel. They passed several vehicles, including a taxi. Angela Reed offered to drive. Groh handed Reed the keys to her vehicle. Groh and the others entered the vehicle, with Reed behind the wheel. Around 4:00 a.m., several miles from the hotel in route to Groh's home, Reed rear-ended a vehicle that was traveling well below the speed limit. A toxicology expert estimated that Reed's blood alcohol content was between 0.170 and 0.222 at the time of the accident. Groh sustained severe and permanent injuries.

Answer the following question

Legal Issues (You do not have to agree with the Court; this decision was appealed.)

1. Did the Hotel have the right to evict a guest who registered with the express intent to avoid driving while intoxicated, if the reason for eviction was that too many persons were in the room? Does it matter that no other guests had complained?

2. Did the Hotel have a duty to care for the guest's safety after eviction if the guest was obviously intoxicated? Does it matter whether the Hotel provided the alcohol to the guest?

3. Was the auto accident of the intoxicated guest too remote from the time of eviction to be proximately caused by the Hotel, even if the eviction breached the Hotel's duty of care toward the guest? Does it matter whether the guest was the driver or a passenger in the vehicle?

State your Management Suggestions to avoid this problem.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Legal Issues 1 The Hotels Right to Evict The hotel had the right to evict a guest if there were valid reasons such as overcrowding in the room However ... View the full answer