Slip and Fall
$6.6 Million Verdict - Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas
Jury verdict $6.6 million. The Philadelphia jury returned a verdict which included $2.2 million in damages for the injured party’s husband on a claim of lost consortium. Our client had suffered cervical spine injuries as a result of a slip and fall on ice in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant. Claims were asserted against the owners of the restaurant, as well as the restaurant’s snow plowing company, which had failed to attend to the parking lot in a timely fashion.
Read Full ArticleContractor Found Liable For Woman's Drive-Thru Lane Fall
×Stephanie Zielinski, of the Law Weekly
Feb. 19, 2009
Catherine Bannon, 38, and her husband, Charles, were passing through the drive-thru at a Clifton Heights, Pa., fast food restaurant March 18, 2007, when their car became stuck in ice.
According to the plaintiff's settlement memorandum, "Catherine Bannon exited the car to walk around to the driver's side so she could take the wheel while her husband pushed the car."
In the process, Catherine Bannon slipped and fell, "sustaining serious injury."
KFC U.S. Properties Inc. and improperly named defendants YUM! Brands Inc., Taco Bell and KFC admitted liability in this action, according to the defendant's settlement memorandum.
However the memorandum states in their defense, Dan's Car Care Center, owned by defendant Dan Robinson, was responsible for plowing the parking lot of the KFC Restaurant, including the drive-thru lane.
Furthermore, the defendants argued Catherine Bannon had pre-existing back injuries, according to their memo. The defense's settlement memo notes Catherine Bannon waited six months before beginning treatment for her injuries after being seen in the ER on the day of the slip and fall.
Prior to jury selection, a confidential settlement was reached between the plaintiff and defendant KFC U.S. Properties said plaintiffs' attorney Gerald Baldino. This settlement, however, did not include defendants Dan Robinson and Dan's Car Care Center.
"Despite being served with the complaint, a ten-day notice, default judgment and a letter from the Court one week prior to trial instructing them to appear for jury selection, no representative appeared at trial," Baldino said in a statement.
Among the injuries Catherine Bannon sustained as a result of the incident, "the primary injury claimed at the time of trial was to plaintiff's neck," Baldino said. "She sustained two protruding discs with torn annulus at two levels."
In their settlement memorandum, the defense argued that Catherine Bannon's pain stemmed from a prior injury.
A Sept. 6, 2007, MRI of plaintiff's lumbar spine "revealed multi-level degenerative disc disease" according to the defendants' memo in defense to plaintiffs' request for damages.
MRI results sent by John F. Hiehle to Dr. Richard Levenberg on Sept. 6, 2005, describe Catherine Bannon's clinical history of "lower back pain with numbness and tingling in the left leg." The report commented that there was minimal disc bulge at T11-12 and small disc protrusion at L4-5 and L5-S1.
The defense memo also stated that the plaintiff claimed "post concussion syndrome as a result of the KFC fall." However, "at the ER on the day of the incident," the defense noted, "Bannon denied having suffered any head trauma."
Baldino's memo argued "pre-existing injury" claims by the defendant saying, "While [Plaintiff] suffered exacerbation of pre-existing low back condition (herniated discs), that low back injury was not the focus of plaintiff's claim."
Instead the memo listed "neck injuries" as the main factor contributing to Bannon's inability to return to work full time as a medical transcriptionist for Medquist Transcription in New Jersey.
Of the $6.6 million awarded to plaintiffs, $4.4 million was awarded in favor of Catherine Bannon against defendant Dan Robinson and Dan's Car Care Center and $2.2 million was awarded to Charles Bannon. In addition, the defendants, Dan Robinson and Dan's Car Care Center, were required to pay delay damages totaling $19,212.33.
Defense counsel did not return calls for comment.
$1.25 Million Settlement - Lehigh County, PA
Partner Tom Sacchetta along with associate Tyler Sacchetta won a significant settlement against a negligent property commercial owner who failed to remove snow and ice from the public sidewalk in front of their business.
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