Magda’s Premise Liability Settlement

Last December, Magda and her husband were Christmas shopping in a Harlingen shopping center. As she was walking in the common area, her left leg slipped forward, causing her right knee to hit the ground. While on the floor, Magda noticed that the tile was unusually greasy and smelled like strong chemicals. She also noticed that there were not any warning signs in the area to alert her or other patrons of the floor’s slipperiness. 

A witness sitting a few feet away came to help and told Magda that a maintenance worker had just cleaned the floor with chemicals. Magda’s husband notified the building’s management of her fall and used his phone to record his conversations with the witnesses. After creating an incident report, Magda headed to the parking lot, but she could not get into her car because she was in so much pain. 

Magda called an ambulance to take her to the hospital, and her treating physician later diagnosed her with a medial meniscal tear. Magda’s pain required that she undergo medical treatment for months after the incident. Despite physical therapy and non-interventional pain management, her pain persisted. She ultimately received a referral to an orthopedic surgeon, who recommended and performed arthroscopic surgery to repair her torn meniscus. 

Premises liability claims are commonly known as “slip-and-falls.” These claims can be challenging to prove because they require evidence that the store knew, or should have known, of the danger posed by the hazardous condition. Usually, this requires a store employee to admit knowing the dangerous condition existed or temporal evidence of how long it was present. Fortunately for Magda, her husband’s quick thinking and video recording helped my firm establish that the shopping center—through its employees—knew that the floor was slippery and negligently failed to warn patrons like Magda of its slipperiness. 

If you or a loved one has been injured after falling or tripping in a store and the store failed to warn you adequately, you have enough things to worry about. Do not let dealing with the store’s management and claims handlers be one of them. We deal with the store and its insurance company so you can focus on getting your life back to normal. You have one chance to do this; make the right choice by choosing the right attorney. Call us at (956) 291-7870 or email us at contact@rdjlawyer.com for a free consultation and case evaluation.