A judge Tuesday cleared for trial most allegations in a lawsuit brought by a downtown restaurant against the Sheraton Grand Los Angeles, alleging some inn guests and employees are discarding burning cigarettes and other projectiles from a balcony and lower level rooms above the eatery that fall into its patio while customers dine.
Joey’s Restaurant Los Angeles Inc., which does business as JOEY DTLA, brought the lawsuit in August 2021, alleging trespass, nuisance and negligence while seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions and declaratory relief.
During a hearing Tuesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Anne Richardson said the case can proceed to trial on all but the injunctive relief claim, which she dismissed on technical grounds.
Hotel attorneys maintained in their court papers that JOEY restaurant management cannot identify a witness who saw, or video recordings that show, that any of the debris fell from the hotel, but Richardson said that means a jury should decide the source of the litter.
“Put simply, while Sheraton Co.’s evidence shows that no one witnessed or recorded the debris falling out of the hotel and onto JOEY restaurant’s premises, the evidence does not show that there is no triable issue of material fact as to whether the debris could have originated from the hotel,” the judge wrote.
The hotel and the restaurant are located in the 700 block of West Seventh Street in an open-air urban center known as The Bloc. The restaurant is one of a family of company eateries located throughout North America, including three in Los Angeles County. Each is known for its spacious patio dining areas and retractable awnings.
JOEY DTLA features the largest street-level patio in downtown Los Angeles, a theater kitchen and an interior willow tree piece of art that helps the restaurant provide an “oasis” within the city for its customers and employees, according to the suit.
Restaurant management alleges that employees, guests and others at the Sheraton have repeatedly “thrown, tossed, released, launched and otherwise caused to come crashing down onto and into JOEY DTLA various projectiles,” including burning cigarettes and other flaming materials, a full beer can that shattered and sprayed upon impact, a cup of water and a coffee creamer container that so disturbed a customer it prompted a posting on Yelp.
Many of the tossed items, including the beer can, cup with water and burning projectiles, came from a large balcony at the Sheraton that has shrubbery and other coverage, “making it an inviting place for surreptitious smoking breaks by employees, guests and invitees looking for a way to hide smoking within what is supposed to be a non-smoking hotel and who need a means of hiding or getting rid of remnants or butts of cigarettes or other burning materials,” the suit states.
The restaurant has been forced to limit the use of its patio and to protect customers with a large awning, which has some 41 burn marks caused by the tossed burning objects, according to the suit.
Although some Sheraton rooms have sealed windows, many above the restaurant can be opened and “invite or allow the launching of projectiles from the rooms to the area where they are likely to … land on or about JOEY DTLA,” the suit states.
Restaurant management says Marriott has known about the problem, but not done anything to prevent their guests or employees from throwing the projectiles onto the restaurant grounds.
The restaurant has been forced to limit the use of its patio and to provide complimentary meals or drinks to placate customers and replace the fabric awning with a more expensive material that is less likely to burn, according to the suit.