Nikko seeks dismissal of lawsuit
When a security guard– whose job is presumed to be a twin of risk— is killed in line of duty, should his employer be held liable for his death?
This question is the subject of debate between the attorneys for Hotel Nikko and the family of a Filipino security guard who died in 1996 while on duty.
Bernardo Tique was beaten to death at the Hotel Nikko on Dec. 1, 1996 while trying to pacify two drunken men who plunged into the hotel’s swimming pool. The two were hanging out at the hotel premises although they were not registered guests.
Tique died while being treated at St. Luke’s Medical Center in the Philippines.
His family sued Nikko for alleged negligence.
Hotel Nikko, represented by lawyers from Mair Mair Spade & Thompson, has asked the Superior Court to dismiss the case on summary judgment, arguing that the hotel “breached no duty to him.”
“The settled rule, both in the CNMI and elsewhere, is that the security guard’s assumption of the risk in his employment frees the employer or principal from any duty of care,” attorneys for Nikko said.
“As an experienced security guard,” they added, “Tique was aware of the nature and extent of these risks and he was fatally injured by the very danger that he was hired to safeguard against.”
Nikko’s attorneys also pointed out that the hotel management had delegated responsibility for security of the hotel to its independent contractor, Island Security Service.
“The settled law of the Commonwealth is that such security duties may be delegated and the principal, as a matter of law, is thereby relieved of liability of any alleged negligence involving the conduct of such security,” Nikko said.
Lawyers for the Tique family opposed Nikko’s motion for summary judgment, maintaining that a hotel’s duty of ordinary care toward its security guards was not completely invalidated by their agreement to assume some risk in enforcing security at the establishment.
Michael Dotts, attorney for the Tique family, said Hotel Nikko’s “no-weapon policy” could be blamed for Tique’s death.
He argued that Tique might not have been killed had Nikko allowed its security guards to carry weapons with which they can defend themselves from any attack.
Dotts also said that Nikko should be faulted for selling alcoholic drinks to the two men who killed Tique or “even for allowing them to consume it and become violent on the premises” despite the fact they were not registered guests.
“Many courts have upheld contractee liability against hotels for the security guards’ injuries caused by risk which were created by the hotel and not voluntarily assumed by the security guard,” Dotts said. (MCM)
