July 11, 2008

Missouri Premise Liability Lawyer - Slip and Fall Settlement - Ankle Injury as Result of My Client Slipping and Falling on Water in Gas Station Bathroom - $41,000.00 Settlement

In Missouri, premises liability refers to the legal liability imposed on property owners for allowing an unreasonably dangerous condition to exist on the property which results in personal injury. Under Missouri injury law, business property owners owe a higher legal standard of care than private property owners. In Missouri commercial or business property owners have a duty to make the property safe and to reasonable inspect the property to make sure there are no hidden defects that could be dangerous. In Missouri, private property owners are only liable for dangerous conditions they know about or should have known about.

A victim of such a defective condition and resultant injury hired me as her Missouri personal injury lawyer and we recently settled her slip and fall case resulting from a Missouri personal injury incident occurring on 6/30/2004. My client was a business invitee at a gas station in Sullivan Missouri, she was caused to slip and fall due to an unreasonably dangerous condition, under Missouri injury law, on the gas station's property, specifically standing water in the bathroom. The bathroom was within the exclusive control of the gas station owner and it was held open to the public for business invitee access. Therefore, the gas station owed my client the highest degree of care under Missouri law to keep the bathroom in a safe condition and to regularly inspect it to guarantee invitees’ safety.

When my client entered the bathroom she immediately slipped and fell, noticing that not only were her pants wet from the fall but there was standing water that she slipped in, the bathroom was very dirty, and there was indication of a lot of foot traffic through the bathroom. This indicates that the bathroom had not been maintained for several hours. This fact was admitted later in discovery after we filed a Missouri personal injury lawsuit in Franklin County, Missouri.

The gas station owner failed to reasonably inspect the bathroom as they admitted they did not regularly clean the bathroom and there was evidence that the water was from a known leak under the sink. The insurance company would only offer $12,000 to settle the case until after we filed a Missouri personal injury lawsuit and pushed the case towards a trial, the insurance company settled for $41,000.

My client incurred a serious personal injury to her ankle requiring a little less than $10,000 in medical treatment. Initially the insurance company would not offer any more than $8,000 stating my client should have watched where she was walking and that the fall was her own fault. Upon filing the Missouri personal injury claim the offer increased to $12,000. Still way too little, the bathroom was a dark, dirty bathroom, with a known water leak in it, clearly, the business owner was liable. There was no rug, warning sign, or repair done to protect the public from the slippery condition created by the known water leak.

November 7, 2007

Missouri Injury Law and Premise Liability - Casino Patron Suffers Severe Knee Injury on Escalator - Unreasonably Dangerous Condition on the Casino Premises

Missouri Injury Lawyer - Premises Liability and Personal Injury Information Page

A recent Missouri escalator injury case. My client, a patron of Harrah's Casino, was on the escalator when the machinery caught her pant leg pulling her down and causing serious injury to her knee. The escalator pulled down with extreme force as there were no or faulty emergency stops or other important safety features in place to prevent this type of incident.

My client has suffered a torn meniscus cartilage in her knee, requiring surgery, along with other traumatic injury. She has been forced to incur over $20,0000 in medical bills to date along with several months of lost income due to the inability to perform her employment duties. Additionally, she has past and future pain and suffering damages as well as future medical expenses and limitations on her income.

Escalator%20-%20Missouri%20Injury%20lawyer%20attorney%20-%20Illinois%20personal%20injury.gif The exact cause of the incident and what specific safety features would have prevented the injury are yet to be determined and likely the opinion of an escalator safety and operations expert will ultimately have to determine the specific cause. However, it is without doubt that my client was not at fault, and either Harrah's improperly maintained the escalator or Otis Elevator Company, the manufacturer of the escalator, improperly or negligently manufactured, installed, or maintained the escalator.

Regardless of the exact party at fault, there was a dangerous condition on the premises that resulted in injury to my client and she is entitled to compensation for her general, specific, and actual damages.

August 24, 2007

Missouri Slip and Fall - Current Case - Premise Liability at Lowe's - Injury Law Issues in Missouri Slip and Fall Cases

Kathy, a successful self employed business owner, suffered personal injury as the result fo a dangerous condition at the premises of the Lowe's garden center in Rolla Missouri. She often visits the garden center as she runs a landscaping company. It is common for there to be standing water, however, there was standing water that was different this day and there was no warning of the dangerous condition. When the plants are given food through a liquid solution it makes the water particularly slippery, much more so than typical standing water. Lowes failed to put up signs informing patrons of this condition and therefore Kathy had no notice of this condition despite the fact she knew she was stepping into standing water.

Upon stepping into this unmarked and dangerous condition Kathy fell and injured her knee and hamstring. Currently she is being treated for a torn meniscus cartilage in her knee, torn hamstring, and other injuries to her knee.

Personal injury lawyers know the issues presented by this case and many premise liability cases in Missouri are (1) Was there a dangerous condition, (2) notice of the condition, constructive or actual, (3) duty to make safe; (4) damages; and (5) comparative fault of the injured party, i.e. was the condition "open and obvious". Particularly in this case the first defense reaction will be that she saw the water and knew she was stepping into it so she is partially at fault. Not the case here! This was not typical water, but water infused with plant food making it very slick as compared to normal standing water. This is a condition that Lowe's generally marks with signs, but did not on this occasion.

In this case, Lowe's breached their duty to inspect and make their premises safe for business customers (a higher duty than private property not for the operation of a business) by failing to mark a known dangerous condition that was not open and obvious as it appears to be regular water.

This is a case were I feel it is reasonable to demand payment based on Lowe's being 100% at fault and not apportioning any fault to Kathy as the fact that water was there was open and obvious, but the nature of this water was not open and obvious.

In the past, Sansone Law, LLC has recovered for many clients that have been injured as a result of unreasonably dangerous conditions on a business premises. For examples, see our sample verdicts.

July 20, 2007

Wrongful Death and Workers' Compensation Claim of Tank Worker - Man Falls to His Death After Safety Clip Fails to Close

Recent wrongful death case that may be filed as either a Missouri or Illinois lawsuit is the result of a December 2006 fatal accident of our client's late husband when fell to his death when working on a water tower. The possible defective clip to his safety harness failed to close and secure him as debris from welding builds up in the closing mechanism. Allegedly, the employer, Phoenix Fabricators, failed to replace the safety equipment, additionally, the safety clip itself may have been poorly designed or malfunctioned.

Its a disturbing case to me especially considering his death could have been prevented by taking the required safety measures. OSHA has issued several citations to Phoenix Fabricators based on their continued failure to follow safety measures.

These tank workers have high risk jobs and they deserve the proper safety equipment. Below is a link to an article talking about the dangers of the job and the experiences of several workers for Phoenix Fabricators.

pff.jpg watertower.jpg


General Article about Water Tank Workers

July 18, 2007

Playground Injury to Child - $20,000 Settlement

Negligence by school and its employees when my client, a 6 year old boy, was on the school playground when he fell from the monkey bars and severely sprained his wrist. The school was liable because they failed to properly supervise the boy and they failed to have a safe surface under the monkey bars.

The parents were responsible for about 2k in medical bills and their son had symptoms and problems with his wrist and forearm for several months. The boy fully recovered but was left with a scar on his wrist and months of pain and suffering.