A legal battle launched by a woman injured when she fell down hotel steps in Dubai may move to Bermuda, after a ruling by a US judge.

Connie Black, a resident of California, launched the legal action in the state after she fell down two marble steps hidden behind curtains at the Ritz-Carlton in Dubai.

But a judge in the California Federal District Court, according to Dubai-based newspaper 7Days, threw out the case and said Ms Black would have to raise an action in Bermuda, where the hotel’s parent company is based, or in Dubai.

The incident happened in August, 2011, when Ms Black and her daughter were on holiday at the Ritz-Carlton in Dubai Marina.

En route to breakfast, she was directed through the curtain and fell down the steps.

She claimed in a written statement to the court she had “severely injured herself” and required medical care in Dubai and in California.

The Ritz-Carlton Dubai gave her a free two-night stay and paid for an upgrade to business class on her return flight to Los Angeles.

Ms Black claims that the hotel then gave her a release and settlement form that would free them from liability.

She said she refused to sign it and returned home, where she needed “several orthopaedic surgeries and follow-up appointments with doctors located in California.”

7Days said that a spokesperson for Ritz-Carlton said: “We do not comment on pending litigation.”