Factual Scenario
Mr. Meley, a frequent traveler and member of the Highland Inn rewards program, planned a business trip to a major city in the southeastern United States. Due to his busy schedule, he decided to use the services of Boundless Vacations, Inc. (BVI), a well-known travel agency, to handle his travel arrangements. Mr. Meley specifically requested that BVI book his accommodation at a Highland Inn located near the interstate, as he had accumulated rewards points with this hotel chain.
During the client meeting, Mr. Meley expressed concerns about the safety of the neighborhood around the motel, as he had previously read about high crime rates in certain areas of the city. He emphasized that safety was a crucial factor for him, especially since he would be arriving late at night. The travel agent at BVI assured Mr. Meley that they would handle the booking and ensure that all necessary precautions were taken.
BVI did not receive a commission for booking motels, but they were compensated for arranging flights, larger hotel chains, and car rentals. As part of their standard procedure, the travel agent consulted reports from the American Travel Association and the United States Travel Associations bulletin, which did not indicate any crime-related issues with the specific Highland Inn. Relying on these sources, BVI proceeded with the booking and informed Mr. Meley that his accommodation had been secured.
Upon arriving at the Highland Inn late at night, Mr. Meley noticed that the surrounding area seemed poorly lit and deserted. Feeling uneasy but trusting the travel agency’s assurance, he proceeded to check in. Later that evening, while returning to his motel room from a nearby convenience store, Mr. Meley was violently attacked and sustained serious injuries. He required hospitalization and incurred significant medical expenses as a result of the attack.
Mr. Meley subsequently filed a lawsuit against BVI, alleging that the travel agency failed to disclose the safety risks associated with the motel and did not fulfill their duty to ensure his safety. He argued that BVI, as his agent, should have known about the dangers and warned him accordingly.
In response, BVI contended that they had performed their due diligence by consulting reputable travel reports, which did not reveal any safety concerns. They argued that obtaining detailed crime information about the specific motel was not within their reasonable capacity and that Mr. Meley, as a frequent traveler, was aware of the general risks associated with staying in urban motels. Furthermore, BVI pointed out that they were not compensated for booking the motel, which could affect the standard of care owed to Mr. Meley.
The court must now determine whether BVI owed a duty to disclose information regarding the safety of the motel, whether the safety information was reasonably obtainable by BVI, and if BVI’s actions or inactions constituted negligence. Additionally, the court will consider whether the nature of BVI’s compensation affects their liability and the standard of care they owed to Mr. Meley.
Student response:
When determining the legal and factual bases of BVI’s potential liability, the first thing that the court would be interested in is whether or not there is a duty owed to Mr. Meley. Due to the fact that Mr. Meley relied on BVI for obtaining his travel accommodations and that he elected to have BVI represent him in as an agent, it is clear that BVI owes some standard of care to Mr. Meley. The standard of care however is debatable, there is two standards of care under the agency doctrine, the paid agent and the gratuitous agent, these two standards of care come with slightly varied duties owed. In order to determine which applies the court would have to determine whether BVI was paid for their services. However, in order to provide a more efficient memo I will not fully discuss but I will briefly discuss the two types of duties owed until the firm discovers whether BVI was compensated for their services.
A paid agent is subject to a duty to the principal to act with standard care and with the skill which is standard in the locality for the kind of work which he is employed to perform and, in addition, to exercise any special skill that he has. A gratuitous agent is under a duty to the principal to act with the care and skill, which is, required of persons not agents performing similar gratuitous undertakings for others. However, both of these types of duties are subject to the agreement that was struck between the agent and the principal. The firm should discover whether or not there was a definition of what standard of care would be owed to the client on the contract that the two parties likely formed when they began their business relationship. Additionally, the main difference between the two types of standard of care is that a paid agent has the duty to act with the standard of care that is customary for agents in this field, and the gratuitous agent is held to the reasonableness of any person not to the higher standard of a reasonable agent.
In this case there is a legal question of whether it was BVI’s duty to disclose the safety information of the motel to Mr. Meley. However, there is also a legal question of whether BVI could have had relevant information regarding the motel’s safety. Before determining whether BVI had to disclose information, it may be easier for BVI’s case to discuss how BVI did not have any relevant information on the safety of the hotel and how obtaining this information was not obvious for BVI. BVI could argue that they did their due diligence under the standard of care of a paid agent because they consulted the American Travel Association report on this motel, and they checked the United States Travel Associations bulletin and both of documents did not report the crime information of the motel. On the other hand, if determined to be a gratuitous agent, a reasonable person would most likely be unaware that those documents existed, and they would not have checked those bulletins and BVI would have gone above what was expected of them. In the Loretti v. Air Land Travel Bureau case, the travel agency booked a client in a hotel that was different from the hotel that they initially chose, and they personally assured the client that the beaches would have been safe. When the client arrived at the hotel and went on the beach they discovered that the beach was not safe and they were violently attacked. When the client sued the travel agency the appellate court held that the travel agency had a duty to disclose information regarding the safety of the area if that information was “reasonably obtainable”. This directly applies to the BVI case because despite this motel being the motel brand of choice for Mr. Meley, and it being in the geographical location of Mr. Meley’s desire; BVI would have had a duty to disclose information regarding the safety of the motel because Mr. Meley did directly mention safety as a concern. However, the court would have to determine whether that information was “reasonably obtainable” for BVI and beyond that the court would have to determine whether that information would have persuaded a reasonable person to believe that the motel was unsafe, and only then would BVI be liable for the damages suffered by Mr. Meley.
Information that may prove useful to the legal defense of BVI would be whether or not any information provided to the travel agency from any supplemental aid provided information regarding safety and whether or not these potential supplemental sources had information with this specific motel’s safety. As described above, the information of whether BVI was paid for their services is relevant to what standard of care would be owed to Mr. Meley. Another relevant source of information would be to determine whether Mr. Meley would have stayed at a hotel that was not the Highland Inn. If Mr. Meley would have only stayed at a Highland Inn because of his rewards program then the case might be determined to be a moot point, he would be arguing that it was BVI’s duty to disclose information but he would have gone with the unsafe choice anyway despite the information given to him. Additionally, the firm should attempt to discover if there was another motel that fit his criteria for lodging. If Mr. Meley would have only stayed at a Holiday Inn that met his expectations of being close to the interstate, this motel might have been the only option that satisfies all of his requirements, and BVI’s job is to provide Mr. Meley with what he desires.