A jury in Illinois has ruled against the plaintiff in a slip-and-fall case where the defense contended that the plaintiff should have been more careful to avoid the allegedly dangerous condition.
Facts & Allegations
Vanessa Matheny, a social worker, alleged that she slipped on water and fell onto the floor of a bathroom located in the office building where she worked in Oak Park, Illinois, injuring an ankle and wrist.
Ms. Matheny sued the building owner, Oaklake Park Associates, LLC, and the building manager, McCollom Realty for negligence.
Her counsel claimed that, the day before she allegedly fell, she had informed McCollom that there was a wet and sagging ceiling tile in a bathroom. Ms. Matheny alleged that McCollom had not followed up on her complaint, allowing a dangerous condition to exist on the property and causing her to slip on water on the floor directly underneath the sagging ceiling tile.
Defense counsel contended that Ms. Matheny had discovered the allegedly dangerous condition and, therefore, that she had notice and should have exercised more caution while using the bathroom.
Result
The jury rendered a verdict for the defendants.
The case is Matheny v. McCollom Realty, No. 2015-M1-301699 (Ill. Cook Cty. D.Ct. Dec. 1, 2016). Attorneys involved include: John D. Risvold; Lucas & Cárdenas; Chicago, IL, for Vanessa Matheny; Christopher Ehresman; Edward J. Kozel Law Offices; Chicago, IL, for McCollom Realty, Oaklake Park Associates, LLC.
FC&S Legal Comment
This report was written using information provided by plaintiff's and defense counsel.
To see the full detailed report from our ALM partner, VerdictSearch, please click here.
Take the guesswork out of your claims settlements.
Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].