subject: Injuried Woman Gets Maximum Compensation Thanks To Video Footage [print this page] The case of Julie illustrates the ability of video surveillance footage to aid in proving liability.
While shopping at the mall during the Christmas season, Julie fell as she was stepping off the bottom of the escalator. Julie braced herself with her right hand as she fell to the floor and was unable to get up following the fall. Security was called by the surrounding witnesses and the incident was filed even though Julie declined to be taken to the doctor.
After returning home, Julie woke up that night with pain in her wrist that was so severe her husband had to take her to the emergency room. Julie suffered from a broken arm and wrist and a bruised pelvis. Julie's slip and fall required surgery to pin the bones in her wrist back together, followed by five months of physical therapy.
Footage from the mall's surveillance cameras revealed that a soda spilled at the base of the escalator two hours before the incident caused the fall. The footage also showed the mall personnel had not taken steps to remove the soda or deter shoppers from the spill area.
The owners and managers of the mall did not fulfill their responsibility to survey their premises for dangers and thus, from a liability perspective, were liable for Julie's medical expenses. Since the mall management carried insurance for liability, they offered Julie $5000 but this amount did not cover the $25,000 in surgery and physical therapy costs.
Julie ended up hiring a personal injury attorney who helped her settle with both the management company and the mall's owners for a total compensation of $75,000 for the injury and related expenses, including legal ones, incurred by her slip and fall.
Julie's case also shows that in a premise liability/slip and fall case, there can be more than one at-fault. A slip & fall attorney can help you determine what parties might be at fault and what responsibilities the at-fault party has to the person injured. Otherwise, the at-fault parties might delay offering the injured party an acceptable offer, wagering on the fact that some plaintiffs do not have the material resources to advance their compliant through a trial.
If you've had an injury in a space that has surveillance footage, you can request the footage during settlement negotiations. Your premises liability attorney can file a lawsuit and subpoena if the owner of the premises refuses or fails to provide the footage.
