Corporate Representative Deposition
I deposed two representatives from a Stadium yesterday morning. The first deposition was the head of maintenance and operations. The second deposition was their controller. Both were pleasant people, but they had limited knowledge of my clients slip and fall. They did know about how the place was managed and operated.
Background on Case
It is August 2018 in Louisville and my client went to watch her granddaughter be recognized before a ballgame started. She starts to leave after the first inning and slips on water in the concourse area. I know it was water because her sister-in-law took a photograph. My clients knee is seriously injured.
Who Knows What
The purpose of the deposition, from my standpoint, was to see what these two knew about the concourse area. How many people were assigned to clean up? What types of job responsibilities did they have? Can anyone say my client did anything to contribute to the fall?
Generic Property Owner Response
They had a good lawyer preparing them. The general answer I got was “everyone on the property is responsible for safety so we had close to eighty people making sure the property was clean that day.” This includes the ticket people, ushers, concession staff, and basically anyone else with a Bats logo on it. There were also a small group of people (2 with mops) that were on basically patrol, but “everyone” was there for safety.
I get that answer is the “right” answer. Do I believe everyone is “interested” and “responsible” for safety at the property? Yes. Do I think its sufficient answer? No. Being “interested” and “responsible” for safety is not the same thing as taking active steps to make the property safe.
It is like saying nurses on the second floor of a hospital are interested and responsible for the care of those on the seventh floor. Might the second floor nurses go up to the seventh floor every once in a while and help with care? Sure they will. But if it not their primary job than I don’t think you get to say every nurse in a hospital is there for the care of a patient. The same can be said of employees of the Toyota plant, UPS package handlers, and TARC bus drivers. Everyone is “responsible for safety” but I can’t legitimately say that 20,000 people are “assigned” to safety.
Necessary Preventative Measures
My position is there need be sufficient people on the property actively participating in keeping the place safe from dangerous conditions. I had some difficulty getting a clear number on how many people were there solely for clean-up, but did get two with mops. Two with mops for thousands isn’t enough in my book. They average six to eight thousand a game.
I also found it interesting no records or logs are kept of clean ups. Businesses are purposefully doing this nowadays for litigation purposes. If there is no record than a pesky plaintiffs lawyer can’t get them. I asked questions about the best way to ensure something is clean. The controller told me they keep track of the bathroom cleanings for accountability. AKA if you want to prove something is done then keep a record of it. Why there is no record this in the concourse area is going to be up to a jury.
Trip and Fall or Slip and Fall Litigation
About 20% of my litigation cases are slip and fall or trip and fall cases. I have also tried, in front of a jury, more slip and fall or trip and fall cases in the Commonwealth of Kentucky than any other personal injury lawyer in the past four years. The defendants I have sued include gas stations, Kroger, Meijer’s, Walgreens, Walmart, restaurants, convenience stores, a museum, a casino, and other businesses that have unreasonably dangerous conditions.
They are difficult cases to prove because insurance companies have done a good job of creating a narrative that people are out for bad reasons. Think about it this way: you have been walking around normal your whole life. If you slip and fall as a result of water on the ground at a stadium do you want the stadium to be responsible for the damages? No brainer.
Advertising material for slip and fall lawyer and trip and fall lawyer Brian Dettman and www.louisville-injury-lawyer.com
