A 64-year old woman, (“E.K.”) who was injured when she fell on ice in the parking lot of a medical building at around 9:00 A.M. while returning to her car, after taking her husband to his cardiologist. The plaintiff testified that, when she arrived at the doctor’s office, she informed the receptionist of the dangerous condition of the parking lot. She was told that the landlord had already been alerted. When she was returning to her car, she testified that the lot had not been salted or sanded. After the fall she went back to the office to report the fall, was checked out by the nurses and an ambulance was called.
E.K. suffered a serious shoulder injury which caused her to miss time from work as a nurse. Her ability to enjoy life’s activities was also impaired. She reached out to Jacobs & Jacobs to help, and Bruce Jacobs took the case, suing the landlord, who then brought a 3rd party claim against the snow removal company.
Bruce subpoenaed the office manager for the medical practice, who claimed that there was an active storm that morning, and that she heard the trucks sanding the lot while E.K. was in the office before the fall. The office manager refused to disclose any of her emails about the incident.
Jacobs & Jacobs was able to obtain the emails written by the office manager. She arrived early in the morning and wrote that “the sidewalks were fine, but the parking lot was horrific” and that she contacted the landlord at around 8 to report it. She went on to say that the sidewalks were “very well salted” but “the parking lot was a sheet of ice”. She went on not say the “It is IMPERATIVE that the lots are sanded by 7:30am when patients arrive.” She want on to note that “at 10:02am the salt truck arrived. This is the first time they have been in the lot since we complained prior to 8am.”
Congratulations to E.K., Bruce, and the team at Jacobs & Jacobs for an incredible result in a very challenging case!
