Cates
Three defendants have been dismissed in Orleans Parish Civil District Court in a slip and fall suit involving a man who fell inside a strip club.
Rene Lopez had sued Karno 327 Bourbon St. Real Estate, 327 Bourbon St. Inc. and Karno SP Holdings after claiming he slipped and fell inside the Temptations Gentleman's Club, which leases a property on Bourbon Street owned by the defendants.
New Orleans attorney Arthel Scheuermann filed the original petition for damages in February 2009. The lawsuit claims in March 2008, Lopez was a "business invitee" at Temptations when he "encountered defective and dangerous stairs and component parts and fell." The suit claims the defendants are liable for damages for failing to provide a premises "free from vice and defect."
Metairie attorney John Walker represents Karno, 327 Bourbon St. and Karno SP. He filed motion for summary judgment on behalf of the three companies, arguing that the original lawsuit "makes a blanket assertion that all named defendants failed to maintain the premises" when his clients were merely the owners of the building.
Walker's motions for summary judgment argued that his clients should be dismissed by the court because the property was leased by Temptations and Bourbon Burlesque Club, whom are also named in the suit, and they were responsible for maintaining the premises.
Both motions for summary judgment were set for hearings but plaintiffs withdrew their charges against Karno, 327 Bourbon St. and Karno SP Holdings.
During a deposition in January, Lopez testified that he had in fact slipped on "some sort of liquid" and not on the stairs as had been charged in the suit.
Orleans Parish Judge Sidney Cates IV is overseeing this case.
Orleans Parish Case 2009-02004