Facts

Plaintiff, Ronald Kuykendall, went into a Circle K convenience store to buy items for work. As he was picking out items, he slipped and fell on a freshly mopped floor but denied assistance. Thereafter, plaintiff began falling while doing other tasks. After a few unremarkable hospital visits, the plaintiff was admitted on May 30, 2005 after an MRI showed central cord syndrome.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Although the plaintiff admitted he was not paying attention when he fell at Circle K, plaintiff argued there was an excessive amount of water on the floor and was not given adequate warnings about the hazard.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The defendant argued that the wet floor was open and obvious and that there were three wet floor signs posted in the area. Further, defendant claimed plaintiff was aware of the wet floor when he joked with an employee about her mopping.

Specials in Evidence

Plaintiff paid $35,000 in medical expenses and was billed $167,000 for medical treatment. Plaintiff claimed permanent disability with a past wage loss of $124,384 and future losses of $1,082,506.

Injuries

The plaintiff claimed to have suffered a central cord injury requiring central cord fusion. The plaintiff's expert testified that his condition progressively got worse and caused him to fall numerous times. The defendant argued plaintiff's injury was not caused by the Circle K fall on May 1 but by a subsequent falls on May 22 while at home hooking up a boat trailer. After defendant's experts testified that it was not possible for plaintiff to have suffered a central cord injury on May 1, the plaintiff's experts further offered that he suffered from trapezius strain and knee injury.

Result

The jury found that Circle K was negligent in the use or maintenance of their property but that its negligence was not a substantial factor in causing plaintiff's injuries.

Deliberation

one day

Poll

10-2

Length

seven days