BEAUMONT – A week into a personal injury trial against the owners of a Comfort Inn the case settled.
While staying at a Comfort Inn in Orange, Allen Doverspike, an Oklahoma resident, sat in a chair and began to take his boots off when the chair collapsed.
Seeking less than $1 million for his injuries, Doverspike filed suit against Hospitality Operations on Aug. 5, 2013, in Jefferson County District Court.
On Dec. 7 the case was called up for trial. Four days later, the case settled, rather than leave the fate of the verdict to jurors.
According to the lawsuit, on Jan. 30, 2013, Doverspike checked into the Orange Comfort Inn. As he prepared for bed, he sat down in a chair to remove his boots.
“The chair collapsed under plaintiff causing him injury,” the original petition states. “The defective chair presented a latent, unreasonably dangerous condition.”
The suit asserts the defendant should have repaired or replaced the chair.
In its answer, Hospitality Operations argued it had not notice, either constructive or actual, of a dangerous condition.
Doverspike injured his left forearm, ribs and back when the chair collapsed, for which he seeks damages within the jurisdictional limits of the court.
He is represented by the Austin Law Offices of Henry Moore.
Hospitality Operations is represented by Ted Davis Jr., attorney for the Houston law firm Soule, Baldwin & Fanaff.
Judge Donald Floyd, 172nd District Court, is presiding over the case.
Case No. E194-595