Recent Premises Liability Decisions

Two recent appellate decisions illustrate some of the challenges injured parties face in premises liability claims. Our firm did not participate in either of these cases.

Chair Collapses and Injures Customer

Mark Haubrich went to a pizza place with a friend. They sat outside on the deck. About forty-five minutes later Haubrich’s chair broke where the arm attached to the seat. Haubrich suffered a three-inch cut on his right thigh and other injuries.

Haubrich sued the pizza business. Haubrich’s attorney retained an expert. The expert was a certified forensic consultant with expertise in safety issues in personal injury/wrongful death matters, a certified safety manager, among a long list of other credentials. The expert conducted an on-site investigation at the pizza restaurant and reviewed pictures of the chair, and various other documents. The expert concluded that the “chair that collapsed was in an unreasonably hazardous and dangerous condition at the time of the incident and had exceeded its useful life.”

Haubrich’s claim was dismissed on summary judgment. Haubrich also lost on appeal.[i]

The Court of Appeals noted that Haubrich’s expert’s “experience predominantly involved premises liability in the form of slips, trips, falls, and other related issues…and is mainly in the construction and occupational safety settings.” The Court concluded that nothing indicated the expert was “qualified to provide an expert opinion on the structural integrity of plastic chairs or the adequacy of plastic chair inspection programs.”

The Court also concluded that there was no evidence the restaurant business had either actual or constructive notice of any defect in the chair. There was testimony that there were “some cracks and fissures reported” about other chairs which were then taken out of service, but nothing about the chair that actually collapsed and injured Haubrich.

Customer Injured by Fall in Shampoo

A Wal-Mart customer fell in some previously spilled shampoo in an aisle in Wal-Mart. Store surveillance video showed two women handling shampoo bottles in the area where the customer later fell. The injured customer sued Wal-Mart for her injuries.

The trial court granted summary judgment, dismissing the case. The customer appealed.

No one had notified Wal-Mart of any spills in the shampoo aisle prior to the customer falling. The Court of Appeals concluded that the injured customer “lacked evidence the store had actual or constructive notice of the shampoo spill.”  The Court upheld the dismissal.[ii]

These cases demonstrate that, contrary to widely held opinion, if you are injured at a businesses or another person’s property, then the business or other person or their insurance must compensate you for your injuries. In reality, premises liability cases are among the most difficult cases to recover anything for personal injury claims. In fact, some personal injury attorneys simply do not accept premises liability cases.

We have successfully litigated premises liability cases and offer a free case evaluation.

 

 

 

[i] Haubrich v. The Pizza Specialists, Inc., unpublished (No. 49540-6-II December 19, 2017).

[ii] McPherson v. Wal-Mart,  unpublished (No. 34696-0-III December 14, 2017).

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