Sedigheh Ansari vs. El Proyecto Del Barrio Foundation, etc., et al.
Dec 23, 2015OUTCOME: Defense Verdict
A jury returned a verdict in favor of El Proyecto Del Barrio Foundation, Inc. represented by Murchison & Cumming attorneys Richard C. Moreno and Lisa D. Angelo. In the case the plaintiff, a 77 year ... old woman, tripped and fell over a concrete wheel stop located in the disabled parking stall section of a parking lot owned by a not-for-profit medical clinic (“Clinic”) in Winnetka, CA on June 12, 2013. As a result of the fall, the plaintiff sustained a left humerus fracture and two years after her fall, underwent a total shoulder replacement surgery. Notably, there were no witnesses to the fall other than the plaintiff’s son and her 94 year old husband who only saw her as she was falling to the ground, but did not actually see her trip over the wheel stop. The plaintiff filed an original complaint for negligence and premises liability against the clinic and her husband filed a claim for loss of consortium. The plaintiff’s son initially filed a claim for loss of consortium and negligent infliction of emotional distress, however, he dismissed his claims approximately six months later. At trial, the plaintiff testified that after she got out of her son’s SUV, she intended to walk up the designated walk way toward the entrance of the Clinic but a family was walking down the walkway. As such, she walked across two empty parking stalls and toward a second designated pathway when she tripped over the wheel-stop. The plaintiff’s liability expert testified that all concrete wheel stops are “tripping hazards” and should not be used any time there is a possibility a pedestrian can come into contact with the wheel stop and that the wheel stops were “dangerous” because they were not painted blue or another contrasting color. According to the defense expert, both the wheel stops and disabled parking stalls complied with the California Building Code; and, according to the Code, the clinic had no choice but to have concrete wheel stops based upon the design of the parking lot. He also testified that the California Building Code does not require the wheel stops be painted blue. The clinic’s architect further testified about the parking lot’s design, which he drafted, based upon the California Building Code and permits obtained from the County and City of Los Angeles. After an 8 day jury trial which included testimony from two liability experts, two shoulder surgeons, an upper extremity expert, two life care planners, an economist, an architect, and 6 percipient witnesses, the jury took less than 45 minutes to render a defense verdict (10-2) on first question of whether the Clinic was negligent.
