$______ RECOVERY - NEGLIGENT SUPERVISION - MINOR PLAINTIFF ROUGHHOUSING WITH FRIEND SUSTAINS SERIOUS BACK INJURY WHILE ATTENDING DEFENDANT'S AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM - DISC HERNIATION WITH AVULSION FRACTURE AT L4-5 - BILATERAL LAMINECTOMY AND FACETECTOMY WITH BILATERAL DISCECTOMY AND RESECTION OF FRACTURED BONE FRAGMENT.

• Pages: 6-7

COMMENTARY

The defense provided testimony from an infectious disease expert

who opined that the plaintiff did not have an ongoing infection

from January 2018 on. Instead, the expert opined that the plaintiff

suffered from a postoperative infection which the defendant prop-

erly managed by performing several debridements and adminis-

tering the proper antibiotics before discharging the plaintiff. The

record indicates that the plaintiff responded well to this manage-

ment as the wound sized decreased significantly over the next 2

months and was 99% healed by late March of 2018. Following this,

according to the expert, the plaintiff demonstrated no evidence that

she had an ongoing infection and clinically she was doing well. She

was placed on another course of antibiotics in May of 2019 prophy-

lactically due to a procedure that would involve tissue expanders

which have a propensity to become infected. The expert concluded

that at no time did the plaintiff need an infectious disease consul-

tation as she never demonstrated any multi-drug resistant bacteria

and most importantly her wounds showed evidence of progressive

and steady healing with the management provided by the

defendant.

$1,002,000 VERDICT – PREMISES LIABILITY – PRODUCT LIABILITY – FALL DOWN –

PLAINTIFF SLIPS AND FALLS ON PAINTED LINES IN DEFENDANT CONVENIENCE

STORE’S PARKING LOT – PLAINTIFF SUES CONVENIENCE STORE AND PAINT

MANUFACTURER – LEG AND KNEE FRACTURES – SURGERY – AGGRAVATION OF LOW

BACK PAIN.

Philadelphia County, PA

The plaintiff in this premises liability case

maintained that he suffered serious and

permanent injuries when he slipped and fell on

painted lines in the parking lot of the defendant

convenience store. The plaintiff maintained that

the lines were painted with a product

manufactured by the defendant paint company

that was unsafe for its intended purpose.

On October 16, 2019, the male plaintiff was walking

in the defendant Wawa’s parking lot located on West

Chester Pike in West Chester, Pennsylvania, when he

suddenly and unexpectedly slipped and fell as a re-

sult of slippery painted lines in the parking lot. The in-

cident resulted in the plaintiff sustaining a fractured

femur, fractured patella, and fractured tibia. He re-

quired open reduction and internal fixation of the leg

and aggravated pre-existing spinal conditions which

also required surgical repair.

The plaintiff maintained that the defendant failed to

properly inspect, discover and remedy the danger-

ous and defective condition, failed to warn of the

dangerous and defective condition, failed to prop-

erly prepare the surface of the parking lot for re-strip-

ing and failed to use proper products for re-striping

the parking lot. The plaintiff also sued the defendant

paint company alleging they failed to properly man-

ufacture, test and supply safe non-slip paint for park-

ing lot line striping. The defendant denied all

allegations of negligence and injury and maintained

that it was the actions of the plaintiff that caused the

incident.

The jury found that the defendant Wawa Was 70%

negligent, the defendant paint company was 20%

negligent and the plaintiff was 10% negligent. The

plaintiff was awarded pain and suffering in the

amount of $243,000, disfigurement of $243,000, loss

of life’s pleasured in the amount of $243,000 and

past medical expenses of $273,000 for a total of

$1,002,000.

REFERENCE

Alex Saltzman vs. Wawa, Inc. and The Sherwin Wil-

liams Company. Case no. 191202846; Judge Ken-

neth Powell, 12-21-22.

Attorney for plaintiff: Susan B. Ayres of Hill &

Associates, P.C. in Philadelphia, PA. Attorney for

defendant: Gerard Smith of Naulty Scaricamazza &

McDevitt in Philadelphia, PA. Attorney for defendant:

Meaghann C. Porth, Esq. of Campbell Conroy &

O’Neil, P.C. in Berwyn, PA.

$100,000 RECOVERY – NEGLIGENT SUPERVISION – MINOR PLAINTIFF

ROUGHHOUSING WITH FRIEND SUSTAINS SERIOUS BACK INJURY WHILE

ATTENDING DEFENDANT’S AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM – DISC HERNIATION WITH

AVULSION FRACTURE AT L4-5 – BILATERAL LAMINECTOMY AND FACETECTOMY WITH

BILATERAL DISCECTOMY AND RESECTION OF FRACTURED BONE FRAGMENT.

Montgomery County, PA

In this matter, the minor plaintiff was attending

the defendant’s after school program when 2

friends pulled him off a couch and one of the girls

jumped on the plaintiff’s back while they lay on

the floor. As a result, the plaintiff sustained

serious injuries. The plaintiff argued that the

defendant failed to properly supervise the

activities of the attendees. The defendant denied

all allegations of negligence.

On December 17, 2019, the 15-year-old male minor

was attending an after school program sponsored

and controlled by the defendant membership orga-

nization located in Wisshahickon, Pennsylvania. The

minor was lying on a couch when two girls also at-

tending the same after school program playfully

pulled the minor off the couch and then jumped on

the minor’s back resulting in injury.

6

Volume 41, Issue 3, February 2023 Subscribe Now