Slip and fall accidents are some of the most common ways in which persons may be injured on someone else’s property.A jury in California has decided that actress Sharon Stone must pay compensation to a worker, who was seriously injured in a slip and fall accident on her premises in 2006.
The accident allegedly occurred when the worker was performing some work in the star’s California home.He was doing some wiring work in the yard, and at some point, he slipped and fell down a 12-foot slope.Just before he fell, he tried to hold on to a lattice nearby, but the screen collapsed under his weight, and he fell straight down.He suffered serious knee injuries, and as a result of these injuries, was unable to return to his former job and income levels.
Two years later, he filed a premises liability lawsuit alleging negligence against Sharon Stone.The lawsuit alleged that there had been only a lattice to break his fall, and that he had not been warned about the drop off.Stone denied those allegations, claiming that there never has been lattice on the property, and that she had always had a chain-link fence going around her yard.The actress even testified in a courtroom, and presented pictures of the chain-link fence as evidence.
Unfortunately for her, an engineer, who testified for the plaintiff, said that the accident could have been prevented if she had simply invested the money in safeguarding the property to prevent falls.Also adding heft to the plaintiff’s case was the fact that his employer was on the property, and was able to testify that there was no chain-link fence going around the yard at all on the day the worker suffered the slip and fall accident.
Stone has now been ordered to pay $232,000 in compensation to the worker.However he had claimed $1.5 million in total damages, including $900,000 for pain and suffering.
You don’t have to be injured in a commercial establishment to file a premises liability action.An Atlanta slip and fall accident lawyer can file a premises liability lawsuit even when you’ve been injured in an accident in someone’s home.A number of deficiencies in a property may be grounds for a premises liability action.Persons may be injured in a slip and fall accident on other’s property, or suffer a near-drowning incident in a swimming pool.Individuals may be injured in fires, explosions and wall collapses on other’s property.They may even be injured in assaults or crimes on other people’s property.
All these accidents and injuries can be prevented only if premises owners invest the time and money taken to secure the premises and make them safe and hospitable.Guests, visitors, customers, and others who come to your property must be safe from any hazards.That doesn’t mean that the property must be 100% safe with no accident risks at all. Visitors also need to exercise some responsibility to avoid a fall or other accident.