5/19/19 – Joyce Logan v. Harrah’s Atlantic City Operating Company d/b/a Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City.

Plaintiff commenced the instant action, alleging that she was injured due to Harrah’s Atlantic City Operating Company, LLC d/b/a Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City (“Harrah’s”) negligence the evening of June 18, 2015. Plaintiff claims that, while she was ascending a staircase, she was bumped into by a Harrah’s patron descending the stairs which caused her to stumble and fracture several bones in her arm. The alleged incident took place at approximately 9:21 p.m. and was captured on video. Plaintiff alleged that Harrah’s breached a duty owed to plaintiff due to the alleged lack of security personnel inside the staircase. Plaintiff also alleged that Harrah’s intentionally spoliated the surveillance in this matter.

After the close of discovery, the parties proceeded to mandatory non-binding arbitration. The arbitrator did not find any negligence on the part of Harrah’s and awarded a no cause in favor of Harrah’s. Plaintiff rejected the arbitration award and requested a trial in this matter. Thereafter, we filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that the facts of this case do not provide for an actionable negligence claim against Harrah’s. We argued that there is no legitimate argument to be made that Harrah’s acts or omissions proximately caused the alleged injuries. We also argued that plaintiff did not retain a liability expert to opine that Harrah’s deviated from any standard of care when maintaining the property and hiring security personnel.

We argued our motion for summary judgment before Judge Rachelle Harz. Judge Harz agreed with our arguments and granted Harrah’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed plaintiff’s complaint with prejudice. Reena Shah and Anthony Buono handled this matter from its inception to its dismissal with prejudice.