Attorney s lawsuit over his fall off a hotel toilet back to state court after judge flushes defendants arguments legalnewsline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from legalnewsline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
NEW ORLEANS (Legal Newsline) – An employee of New Orleans’ Boomtown Casino Hotel says the personal injury lawyer suing him over a fall off the toilet is pulling some shenanigans to keep the case out of federal court.
Brad Hirsch said in a March 12 motion to dismiss that the only reason he was named as a defendant was so that plaintiff Dominic Varrecchio would have a Louisiana resident involved in the case. Varrecchio did this, Hirsch argues, to defeat the diversity jurisdiction argument defendants can make to have cases removed to federal court.
State courts are often seen as more plaintiff-friendly, especially in jurisdictions like Louisiana that tort reformers have been concerned about for years. Varrecchio, a lawyer representing himself, sued Boomtown and Hirsch earlier this year in Jefferson Parish court over an alleged February 2020 incident in his hotel room.
NEW ORLEANS - A New Orleans man sued the Boomtown Casino Hotel and its vice president/general manager for alleged negligence, according to documents filed earlier this year in Jefferson Parish.
Dominic Varrecchio was a guest of Boomtown in February 2020 when he went to use the toilet in his hotel room. When he rose from the toilet, the seat detached suddenly, causing Varrecchio to slip and hit his head on the sink and shelves, then fall on the floor, the suit says. The plaintiff allegedly suffered injuries to his head, neck, back, knees and left heel.
The plaintiff is suing the casino for four counts of negligence; for not identifying a poorly assembled, poor quality or defective situation in a hotel room; and for failing to warn visitors of a potentially harmful situation. The plaintiff is seeking damages for medical bills, emotional and physical suffering, lost wages and other judgments deemed fit. The amount requested exceeds the arbitration limit of the court.