Although many people are aware that merchants are required to keep their premises reasonably safe, it can be complicated to establish what exactly constitutes unreasonable risk. As the group was being escorted to their table, Lavergne fell down several steps, severely injuring her right foot. Lavergne filed a lawsuit to recover damages, alleging that Lavergne was injured due to a lack of adequate lighting and a lack of warning about the steps.
The trial court found that the steps presented an unreasonable risk of harm, but also found that Lavergne failed to exercise reasonable care as she walked to the table. Under Louisiana law, merchants must exercise reasonable care to protect patrons by keeping the premises safe from unreasonable risks of harm.
See Moore v. See Bufkin v. At the trial court, Lavergne presented an expert witness on architecture who testified that multilevel restaurants are generally used as a way to oversee the whole restaurant for available tables.
For the third factor, the expert witness testified about several possible risk-reducing solutions for the steps, such as putting in a ramp, changing the lighting level, and putting up warning signs about the steps.
The trial court also considered her testimony that had there been a sign, she would have seen it because she was not reading the whole time that she waited to be seated.
