Where a housekeeper failed to use wet floor signs in a dorm bathroom, plaintiff received damages for the negligence of a state employee.
In Hood v. State of Tennessee, No. E2023-00773-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. April 3, 2024), plaintiff was a student at the University of Tennessee. Her dorm room included a bathroom area at the entry, with two bedrooms adjoining the bathroom. The bathroom connected to the dorm hallway. After arriving at her room one day, she crossed the bathroom floor to her bedroom. The floor was dry at that time. She ate lunch with headphones in, then went back out to the bathroom. When she stepped into the bathroom, she fell on a wet substance that smelled like cleaner and broke her arm.
Plaintiff filed her claim with the Tennessee Claims Commission for her “injuries caused by the negligence of a state employee.” Plaintiff testified that the floor was saturated when she fell. In fact, her clothes soaked through, requiring her to change before going to the hospital. Plaintiff provided a detailed timeline of when she likely arrived and how long she ate lunch. She asserted that the floor was wet from being cleaned while she ate lunch in her room, and that the housekeeper failed to warn her of the wet floor.