USCOA,2 No. 87
Regina L. Darby, as the Administratrix C.T.A. &c. of Peter Shelley
Zeiler, and Regina L. Darby, individually,
Appellants,
v.
Compagnie National Air France, &c., et al.,
Defendants, Societe Des Hotels Meridien, d/b/a Meridien Hotels, Inc.,
Respondent.
_________________________________________________________________
2001 NY Int. 67
June 7, 2001
This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication
in the New York Reports.
Edward T. Chase, for appellants.
Deborah Del Sordo, for respondent.
_________________________________________________________________
ROSENBLATT, J.:
Peter Zeiler drowned while swimming at Copacabana Beach, a public
facility in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. He and Regina Darby were guests at
the Meridien Copacabana Hotel, which is separated from the beach by a
four-lane public highway. The hotel marketed its proximity to the
beach and encouraged guests to use it, even providing them with
chairs, umbrellas, towels and a security escort service. It also
furnished guests with pamphlets warning about sun exposure and crime
on the beach. The pamphlets did not, however, say anything about
possibly dangerous surf conditions.
The Brazilian government owned and maintained the beach and employed
the lifeguards and rescue personnel. The government did not convey
surf information to area hotels. When local weather conditions created
rip tides,(1) lifeguards were not permitted to enter the water but
would post red flags and, when necessary, call for helicopters to
rescue swimmers.
On the day in question, Zeiler went swimming at the beach. When he
failed to return, Darby summoned help and eventually learned that he
had drowned. Individually and on behalf of Zeiler's estate, Darby sued
Societe des Hotels Meridien in United States District Court for the
Southern District of New York, alleging that Zeiler drowned in a rip
tide and that the hotel was negligent in failing to warn him of the
SNIPPETS:
USCOA,2 No. 87 Regina L. Darby, as the Administratrix C.T.A. &c. of Peter Shelley Zeiler, and
This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the New York
Peter Zeiler drowned while swimming at Copacabana Beach, a public facility in Rio De Janeiro,
He and Regina Darby were guests at the Meridien Copacabana Hotel, which is separated from the
The hotel marketed its proximity to the beach and encouraged guests to use it, even providing
The Brazilian government owned and maintained the beach and employed the lifeguards and
When local weather conditions created rip tides,lifeguards were not permitted to enter the
Individually and on behalf of Zeiler's estate, Darby sued Societe des Hotels Meridien in
The District Court held that the "hotel had no duty to warn its guests about the conditions
"Whether, under New York law and all of the circumstances shown by the record developed in
"Whether an innkeeper who so encourages and facilitates use of a nearby public beach has 'a
warn them of its dangerous condition'" (quoting Butts v Kouwenhoven, 272 App Div 1019,
A finding of negligence may be based only upon the breach of a duty.
Although juries determine whether and to what extent a particular duty was breached, it is
In assessing the scope and consequences of civil responsibility, they define the boundaries
In New York, negligence causes of action have been sustained against innkeepers in a variety
4; Maloney v Hearst Hotels Corp., 274 NY 106, 109 ).
Plaintiff asks us to impose on innkeepers a duty to warn of dangerous surf conditions at
As the Restatement puts it, an innkeeper owes no "duty to a guest who is injured or
ncess Hotels International, Inc. v Superior Court, 33 Cal App4th 645, 651-652, 39 Cal Rptr2d 457,
Plaintiff relies primarily on Butts v Kouwenhoven
While it may well have been good practice, it would be inapt to require such a warning merely
Having answered the first question in the negative, we further conclude that a hotel or
Following certification of questions by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second
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