Premises Liability

April 27, 2017

12-Year-Old Boy Killed in Skiing Accident

Skiing can be a lot of fun, but it can also be a dangerous activity. Each year, hundreds of people are seriously injured or killed. According to a recent news article from the Aspen Times, a 12-year-old boy from California died as a result of a skiing accident in which he crashed into a tree at a high rate of speed.

Ski patrollers (skiing or snowboarding first aid personnel) first got a report of an injured skier a few minutes after 2 p.m. They said he was skiing when he hit a tree stump that caused him to lose control and crash into another tree. For those who haven’t skied before, ski trails are marked according to difficulty, ranging from a beginner single green circle to a double black diamond expert trail. Victim was skiing on a beginning trail at the time of the accident that ultimately proved fatal. Continue reading

April 10, 2017

Slip-and-Fall Accident Litigation

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In a recent case from the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, plaintiff was injured when she slipped on ice that had accumulated in front of her dorm room. Her accident occurred on January 17, 2014. This date is important, because this case deals with a notice requirement when filing against a state or municipal defendant.

On February 3, 2014, plaintiff’s father contacted the university’s risk management office about his daughter’s injury. In his email, he notified the school that his daughter broke her leg and tore a ligament. He further informed the school in his email message that she required surgery to repair the damage from her slip-and-fall accident. He also stated that he expected the school to assume liability for his daughter’s injury, as it was their responsibility to make the walkways safe in campus areas. Continue reading

April 6, 2017

Violent Propensity of Dog at Issue in Bite Injury Lawsuit

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In a recent case from the Georgia Supreme Court, a plaintiff was injured when she was bitten by defendant’s dog. She alleged that the attack occurred when she was bitten by the dog while she was visiting defendant’s home.

Plaintiff and defendant in this action were neighbors at the time the action was filed. The defendant’s adult son was planning to move back to his parent’s home and asked if he could bring his dog, which was an American pit bull terrier. This is dog most people would instantly recognize as the pit bull breed.
Continue reading

March 23, 2017

$5.4 Million Awarded for Slip-and-Fall at Rail Yard

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A jury in Chicago awarded $5.4 million to a man who suffered serious back and groin injuries after he slipped and fell on a slick of diesel oil on the ground at a rail yard.

The original verdict was for $9 million, but was lowered by a percentage based on plaintiff’s purported contributory negligence that factored into the fall’s causation.

Plaintiff sued the railroad company for allegedly failing to provide him with the appropriate tools and a safe workplace while he was repairing a leak on site as an independent contractor back in April 2011. The case highlights the fact that although work-related injuries are often compensable only via workers’ compensation benefits, there are sometimes legal avenues to pursue claims against third-parties, such as property owners or general contractors. Continue reading

November 8, 2016

Regalado v. Callaghan: Premises Liability Cases

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In Regalado v. Callaghan, defendant was a subcontractor with a license to do concrete jobs and wanted to build his wife’s dream house according to court records. In order to save money on the project, defendant chose to be the owner-builder of his new home.

According to the relevant state regulation in the jurisdiction, an owner-builder can personally obtain all necessary permits and serve in the place of a general contractor in terms of responsibility on the project. Once he had obtained the proper permits, he did all of the concrete work himself and then hired subcontractors to perform the other needed work. Continue reading

October 20, 2016

Goodwin v. Al J. Schneider Co. – Hotel Slip-and-Fall Lawsuit

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In Goodwin v. Al J. Schneider Co., a case recently weighed by the Kentucky Supreme Court, plaintiff was injured while attending a convention at a hotel and conference center owned by defendant. Plaintiff was staying at the hotel with his wife and was injured while taking a shower.

According to court records, plaintiff was tying to step into the bathtub to take a shower when he slipped and fell to the floor, thus injuring his knee. In his personal injury lawsuit following his slip-and-fall accident, plaintiff alleged that this bathtub did not have a grab bar, and there was not a bathmat at the bottom of the tub. He also testified that, after the fall, the hotel gave him a bathmat, and that he learned that other guests had bathmats in their rooms. Continue reading

August 6, 2016

Bowers v. P. Wile’s Inc.: Premises Liability Issues

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In Bowers v. P. Wile’s Inc., a case from the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) of Massachusetts, one afternoon in 2011, plaintiff went to a garden store owned by defendant in Cape Code. While she was at the garden center, she was walking on a walkway in the parking lot that was about six feet in width. While the walkway was paved, the area next to the walkway had gravel stones commonly known as rivers stones in the masonry and rock industry.

While this was in the parking lot, it was also an area in which the stores display merchandise. Anyone who has gone to a garden center, or even a big box store, is likely aware that stores like these tend to display plants and trees in front of the store in what is essentially part of the store’s parking lot for customers to look at. Continue reading

July 31, 2016

Bernardoni v. City of Saginaw – Sidewalk Trip-and-Fall

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Proving negligence in a sidewalk slip-and-fall case can be challenging due to a myriad of factors.

The first reason is that, more often than not, you’re dealing with a public entity, with all of the legal hurdles that entails (i.e., sovereign immunity, etc.).The second reason is that you have to prove the defendant had actual or constructive knowledge of the defect. That means the defendant was either informed of the actual flaw or that the defect existed for such a length of time the defendant, in using reasonable care, should have learned about it.

Although we don’t tend to think of trip-and-fall negligence cases as requiring an expert witness as we would for, say, a medical malpractice lawsuit, it’s something that may need to be considered. Continue reading

July 11, 2016

Escalator Injuries an Ongoing Threat to Children, Elderly

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Two years ago, the family of a 4-year-old boy killed in a 2011 escalator accident at the Auburn Mall Massachusetts reached a settlement with the escalator manufacturer and owner of the store where the escalator accident took place.

The child was fatally injured when a guardrail on the escalator pulled him through a gap between a plexiglass divider and the escalator and he fell 18 feet onto a display case below. He died at the hospital the next day of blunt force trauma to the head.

According to recent statistics published by the American Association for Justice, this case was indicative of so many escalator accidents that happen every year in that it:

Involved a young child;
Involved a fall.

The report indicated there are a growing number of escalator injuries in the U.S. every year, most involving children or the elderly, and a significant number involving not entrapment, but falls. Continue reading

June 27, 2016

Alcala v. Marriott Int’l, Inc,. – Icy Sidewalk Slip-and-Fall Lawsuit To Be Retried

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The Iowa Supreme Court has set for retrial the case of Alcala v. Marriott Int’l, Inc., a slip-and-fall case that involves a hotel business guest who was injured after a fall on an ice-slicked walkway on the property.

Boston residents are well familiar with the phenomenon of ice and snow during the brutal winter months. Of course, it’s not something many want to spend time thinking about at the start of summer, but it’s worth keeping abreast of legal developments on this front because it does affect many in Massachusetts for a good six months out of the year.

In Massachusetts, the 2010 ruling of Papadopoulos v. Target Corp. upended the previous slip-and-fall standard when it came to snow and ice, which was that there was no liability for naturally-accumulated ice and snow, but there was for unnaturally-accumulated ice and snow. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court held that a property owner owed a duty to lawful visitors in both cases to protect them from hazards arising from snow and ice. Whether a property owner’s action is “reasonable” will depend on a myriad of factors, including likelihood of injury, probable seriousness of such injuries and how great a burden it is to reduce or avoid that risk altogether. Continue reading