Premises Liability

October 21, 2009

Trial Set in Wrongful Death of Wal-Mart Slip and Fall

A trial date has been set in the case against Wal-Mart in the death of a Chadron, Neb., woman.

David Lehman sued the corporation shortly after his wife, Julie, died after falling in the Chadron store. The case, filed in Dawes County District Court was removed to the U.S. District Court, which has scheduled a trial for Feb. 16.

Julie Lehman was in Wal-Mart July 21 with her son, Steffan, 17, when she slipped on a wet floor in the automotive cleaning products aisle on her way to the restroom. Julie received her initial diagnosis and treatment at the Chadron Community Hospital before being flown to Rapid City Regional to have a massive blood clot in her brain surgically removed. Julie never woke up after surgery and died July 27.

October 15, 2009

Settlement For Philadelphia Apartment-Fire Litigation

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Less than 14 months after a devastating apartment blaze along the Conshohocken riverfront set back one of the nation’s most successful revivals of an aging town, a $36.3 million settlement has been reached to end all fire-related litigation.

Of that, $27 million will go toward rebuilding the two destroyed Riverwalk apartment buildings, which housed 189 units. The remainder will be shared among the displaced tenants, with amounts depending on individual losses.

October 13, 2009

Woman Settles for $7 M in Target Brain Injury Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

An 80-year-old woman has been awarded a $7 million settlement from Target Corp. and a mechanical door company after she was knocked to the ground by a faulty automatic door at a Target store in Rosemont in 2007, the woman’s lawyers said in a statement.

The incident on June 21, 2007, caused Claire Putman brain injuries and resulted in “cognitive deficits,” according to the statement from the law firm. Putman, whom records list as a Des Plaines resident, had to move into a nursing home because of her injuries.

According to the statement, Putman was walking into the Target at 7000 Mannheim Rd. when the door malfunctioned and knocked her to the floor, causing her to hit her head. She was then struck by the door again as it continued to open and close.

August 23, 2009

Dallas Woman Sustained Brain, Knee Injuries in Slip-and-Fall Incident

by Dr. Shezad Malik

On April 5, 2005, plaintiff Liria Lopez, 49, a self-employed house cleaner, entered a Minyard Food Store on the corner of Abrams Road and Gaston Avenue in Dallas. It had rained that day and water had accumulated in the store’s foyer area. As Lopez exited, she slipped on the water.

Lopez sued Minyard Food Stores Inc., alleging premises liability. She claimed that other customers had fallen in the same area under reasonably similar conditions about 18 months earlier. She also maintained that on the day of her accident there there were no warning signs or mats placed in the foyer, nor were there any warnings from store employees prior to her fall.

Lopez’s walking surfaces/traction expert testified that the manner in which Minyard addressed the water issue in the foyer was below the standard of care. After looking at the records, he said Minyard did not adequately handle the continuing problem of a wet slick floor on rainy days.

August 1, 2009

Swim Club Lawsuit for Brain Damage Caused by Drowning

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Three years ago, James Becker was doing what many vigorous 15-year-old boys do – playing baseball, basketball and soccer.

Now he is severely disabled, must use a wheelchair and is under the constant care of his mother.

The accident that reduced James to such circumstances occurred at the Woodcroft Swim Club in Parkville on July 29, 2006, when, his family’s lawyer says, he almost drowned. His brain was apparently deprived of adequate oxygen for about 10 minutes.

His parents, William J. Becker III and Mary Becker, have filed a $40 million lawsuit in Baltimore County Circuit Court against the swim club and the company that runs it, D.R.D. Pool Management Inc., accusing them of failing to both “timely recognize and respond” to the struggling boy and to properly perform resuscitation efforts.

July 4, 2009

Jury: Home Depot Liable for $1.5 M in Accident

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Cobb County, Georgia jury has awarded a Home Depot customer and his wife $1.5 million in a personal injury case stemming from a forklift accident inside a store.

According to the complaint, in November 2005 shopper Larry Reece fell and suffered neck and spine injuries after a pallet of plywood fell 24 feet from a forklift.

The wood hit a barricade that knocked over Reece, who wound up trapped under the plywood.

As part of the verdict, Reece’s wife was awarded $30,000 for loss of marital relations, said the couple’s attorney, Jeff Shiver. Shiver said medical expenses for Reece’s neck injuries were about $120,000, including surgery to repair herniated discs.

May 14, 2009

Family of Child Killed by Falling Gate Settles Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The family of an 11-year-old boy killed when a 1,600-pound metal gate fell on him while he played at a Boston, Methuen school will receive a $600,000 settlement from the city.

The city had previously admitted that it was liable for leaving the unsecured iron gate in an area children could access. The settlement is the maximum amount allowed under state law.

Timothy DiLeo was killed and his younger brother injured when the unhinged gate at the Tenney Grammar School fell on them on Labor Day 2007.

May 6, 2009

$3.3 M Awarded to Woman Sickened by Mold

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Maricopa County Superior Court jury has awarded $3.3 M to a Scottsdale woman who was sickened and permanently disabled by a mold infestation in her apartment building.

Robin Minium was a project manager for American Express and worked out of her upscale apartment near Scottsdale and Bell roads. She had lived there since 2000.

According to court documents, her health deteriorated significantly by 2002, and as she got sicker, she spent more time in her apartment.

May 2, 2009

$14M Awarded in California Drowning Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Santa Barbara jury has awarded Oded and Anat Gottesman nearly $14 million in compensatory economic and non-economic damages for the loss of their child Yoni, who drowned in a Cathedral Oaks Athletic Club swimming pool in 2005.

The total will undoubtedly climb, however, as punitive damages have not yet been determined. That second phase begins Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. with brief opening statements by both parties followed by testimony. Because punitive damages must still be discussed in court and decided by the jury, the judge kept in place a gag order restricting comments to the media by involved parties.

March 28, 2009

Boy Awarded $20 M in Brain Damage Case

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A now-12-year-old Temecula boy who fell from a fast-food restaurant’s play structure and struck his head, causing brain damage, was awarded a $20 million settlement from the franchise’s parent company.

The money was awarded to Jacob Buckett and his sister, Isabelle, who was 5 at the time of Jacob’s fall at the Temecula restaurant on Aug. 4, 2005.

The structure was inside the restaurant and there was no rubber beneath the bars, just tile, according to Jacob’s attorney.

The defendants, the restaurant franchisee, parent company and playground manufacturer, were not named because of the settlement’s confidentiality clause but according to the Web site momlogic.com, the restaurant was a Burger King.

Delta Marketing Inc., the installer of the playground, was also sued.