Water intrusion from nearby hotel forces restaurant to close. $112K. Ventura County.

Facts and Background

• Facts and Background:

  Sportsman Restaurant was established in downtown Ventura in 1950. Jenny and Joe Ching purchased Sportsman Restaurant in 1985. The Sportsman was known as one of the oldest and longest-running restaurants in Ventura County at the time of its permanent closure on October 12, 2017. The restaurant was situated directly below the Bella Maggiore Inn, a hotel that was owned and operated by the Sportsman's landlord, Ventura Realty & Investment Company.

  On the night of October 11, 2017, the handle of a cold-water faucet in the bathroom of Room 25 of the Bella Maggiore Inn broke off while a guest was attempting to stop water leaking from the faucet. After the cold water faucet handle broke, water leaked for several hours, resulting in water damage to the Sportsman Restaurant, which was located directly below the Bella Maggiorre Inn, and Room 25 specifically. The massive water intrusion led to the permanent closure of the Sportsman, owned and operated by the Ching family.

• Plaintiff's Contentions:

  That the defendant's negligent maintenance of Room 25 within its hotel, the Bella Maggiore Inn, including the sink area and flooring, caused water intrusion into their restaurant and a nuisance on their leased property that the landlord did not abate. Further, that the defendant's motive in evicting them was in retaliation for asserting their rights as tenants. Plaintiffs Jenny and Joe Ching were ages 71 and 81, respectively, at the time they claim defendant violated their rights.

  Plaintiffs also claimed that the defendant's officer and managing agent acted with oppression, malice and/or fraud against the plaintiff, thus causing the defendant to become liable to the plaintiffs for punitive damages.

• Defendant's Contentions:

  Defendant denied that it was negligent or caused a nuisance, and denied that it caused any of the plaintiffs' damages and disputed the plaintiffs' claims for damages.

  Defendant denied that it acted with any discriminatory motive against Jenny or Joe Ching or with malice, oppression and/or fraud. Defendant denied it was responsible for the plaintiffs' alleged damages.

  That the terms of the lease required plaintiffs to prove gross not ordinary negligence.

  Defendant also alleged that the plaintiffs failed to properly mitigate their damages and refused to cooperate with defendant's efforts to repair the premises.