Slip And Fall Claim Defeated By Lack Of Evidence That Fall Caused Death
In November 1995, Winfret Bell was walking from one room to another in the apartment she rented from the Housing Authority of New Orleans (“HANO”) when her shoe got caught in a broken threshold between the rooms. The threshold was not flush with the floor and Ms. Bell fell forward, sustained severe facial injuries and died on the same day. Ms. Bell was alone at the time of her fall and was not discovered until later that day by her granddaughter. Prior to Ms. Bell’s fall, she and her daughters had filed complaints to HANO about the broken threshold, which apparently were not addressed by the time of Ms. Bell’s fall.
Ms. Bell’s seven daughters filed a wrongful death and survival action against HANO, claiming negligence and strict liability. Following trial, the trial court found in favor of Ms. Bell’s daughters and awarded the sum of $50,000 to each of Ms. Bell’s daughters.
HANO appealed the trial court’s decision to the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, arguing that Ms. Bell’s daughters failed to prove that the defective threshold was the cause of Ms. Bell’s death. In order to prevail in their claims against HANO, Ms. Bell’s daughters had to show that: 1) the threshold was in the care, custody and control of HANO; 2) that the threshold presented an unreasonable risk of harm; 3) that HANO knew or should have known about the broken threshold; and 4) that the threshold was the cause-in-fact of Ms. Bell’s death.
Reviewing the evidence, the Fourth Circuit agreed that the evidence presented at trial by Ms. Bell’s daughters was sufficient to prove that HANO had the care, custody and control of the threshold, and that the threshold presented an unreasonable risk of harm in that it was not flush with the floor, and that HANO knew or should have known about the threshold through the numerous complaints filed by Ms. Bell and her daughters.
However, the Fourth Circuit concluded that the trial court erred in finding that the threshold was a cause of Ms. Bell’s death. The only evidence introduced at trial on the issue of causation was Ms. Bell’s death certificate. On the certificate, the coroner’s office listed Ms. Bell’s cause of death as “hypertensive cardiovascular disease” and classified the manner of death as “natural”. The death certificate contained no reference to a fall or any other injuries or complications that caused or contributed to the death. No evidence was introduced at trial that showed or claimed that the fall caused or contributed to Ms. Bell’s death. Because Ms. Bell’s daughters did not offer any evidence to controvert the coroner’s conclusion that Ms. Bell’s death was caused by hypertensive cardiovascular disease, the court reversed the decision of the trial court and found in favor of HANO.
Take-Away: The plaintiff bears the burden of proof in a premises liability case and, although able to make a prima facie showing to get into court, causation may be defeated by death certificates and medical records establishing another medical cause for injury or death.
This article was co-authored by Jeremy Bolton, an associate at Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore LLC.
