On Christmas Day, attorney John Miller and his family, provided a meal and a warm visit to one of their recent clients who was injured in a fall in a department store. Food was prepared, brought, and shared with the client and her husband, who are elderly and live alone. Amazingly, our client's mother was born in 1889!
The client had sustained a significant fracture of her upper arm when she fell at a national department store chain. Typically in a “slip and fall” claim, the primary defense of the department store or other location at which the fall occurred is their lack of “notice” of the condition that caused the fall. Interestingly, it is the injured plaintiff who has the burden of showing that establishment at which the fall occurred had advance or prior notice of the hazardous condition.
In this case, the client had tripped and fallen over a broken security scanning device located at the entrance/exit to the department store. The department store accepted liability because it was proven/established that they had caused or created the broken security scanning device themselves. Because the store had created the dangerous condition themselves, they were deemed to have actual notice of this condition for purposes of establishing liability.
Damages for past medical expenses, and past and future pain and suffering are now being pursued since liability has been established and accepted by the defendant store. Unfortunately, due to the location of the fracture in our client’s upper arm, adjacent to the shoulder joint, she will likely have traumatic arthritis develop in the future which may cause continuing pain and limitation of movement.