Woman Slips on Known Spill at Convention Center, Suffers Serious Knee Injury Requiring Surgery
In July 2016, our 48-year-old client was attending an event at the SeaGate Convention Center in downtown Toledo, Ohio when she slipped on clear liquid and fell to the ground. Landing hard on her left knee. Although the people working at the SeaGate Center during the event admitted that they had known about the spill, no warning signs or cones had been placed to alert attendees of the danger, and the area had not been blocked off in any way to prevent pedestrian traffic through the area.
Our client’s left knee was particularly vulnerable as she already had a history of problems with it. An ambulance took her immediately from the convention center to the emergency room, where x-rays revealed that she had suffered a complex fracture to her left kneecap. After an initial period of immobilization and instructions not to bear weight on her knee, our client was able to begin physical therapy. Unfortunately, she continued to have serious swelling throughout therapy and experienced a clicking sensation in her knee and other difficulties with activities. Our client was also required to be off work for an extended period of time due to her injury, and this created a serious financial burden on her due to lack of income. It was a long road to recovery and our client never reached the baseline she was at prior to her slip and fall. Eventually, she was diagnosed with chondromalacia of her patella and had to undergo an arthroscopy – a surgical procedure to investigate the potential causes of her pain.
Due to her injuries from slipping on a spill that the convention center was aware of, our client experienced permanent changes to her life. She lives with ongoing pain, stiffness, and swelling and is no longer to engage in the same work or recreational activities she enjoyed before her injury. This took a very serious emotional toll on our client, leaving her feeling disappointed and depressed on many days.
In our negotiations with the insurance company, they were unwilling to offer a fair settlement value for our client’s injury. Because of this, we filed a lawsuit against numerous parties including the owners of the building, the company that leased it, and the company that was hosting the event our client attended. By actively pursuing a case in court, we were able to secure a significantly higher settlement for our client – almost four times the initial offer. This allowed our client to achieve a substantial recovery as she works to close this terrible chapter in her life.
