Legal Question in Personal Injury in North Carolina

Re: Burn

I am not specifically aware of any cases like that in North Carolina. There are, of course, cases in other contexts, one of which is cited at the end of this message. In order to recover, you would have to show some "negligence" by the motel, which caused your injury; you would also have to defend against the argument that you were negligent in causing the injury. We do not really have enough facts to fully address these issues. It would appear, however, that you have an uphill battle. As a partial aside, it is not inconceivable that the motel had some sort of "med pay" insurance coverage which would pay some medical expenses.

Here is a case which was decided by the Court of Appeals: Simpson v. Cotton, 98 N.C.App. 209, 390 S.E.2d 345 (1990) (cause of sudden burst of hot water from motel shower, resulting in guest jumping out of way, falling, and hurting his leg and knee, was sheer conjecture, and doctrine of res ipsa loquitur could not be applied, even though owner had exclusive control of shower tub controls and water heater for purposes of maintenance and inspection, and (2) even if there were no nonskid stripes on floor of motel shower in which guest fell, this would not give rise to claim by guest for negligence against motel owner).