Facts

This is a slip and fall incident which occurred on June 29, 2003. Plaintiff was going to the restaurant for dinner with her family. At the time of the incident, she was carrying her nine month old daughter. As she was exiting, with her daughter in hand, plaintiff stepped into a puddle of water which was approximately 3.5 feet long by two feet wide.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
The essence of this case deals with the presence of a misting system which was situated under the overhang. The misting system was running at the time of the incident.

An employee of the defendant mistakenly failed to turn off the misting system when he left the restaurant the night before. As a consequence, the mist did not self-evaporate as intended as it continued to run during the evening. In the morning, the employee who opened the restaurant did nothing to remove the water and/or warn patrons of the dangerous condition or to turn off the misters.

Plaintiff contends that defendant created the hazardous water condition, violated their own policies by allowing the misting system to be on overnight, creating the puddle, knew that the water was a hazard and had no safety considerations for the misting system.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The condition was open and obvious and plaintiff went through the water upon entry.

Settlement Discussions

Plaintiff's demand: $1.8 million.

Specials in Evidence

$279,826.44; $382,600 (disputed by defendant).

Injuries

Surgeries: On Oct. 22, 2004, the doctor performed a three level lumbar discogram at L3-4, L4-5 and L5-S1. On Sept. 21, 2005, the doctor performed an anterior retroperitoneal exposure of the spine, L4 through S1; artificial disc placement of L4-5; and anterior lumbar interbody fusion using LT-cased and BMP, L5-S1. Immediately following that procedure, the doctor also performed a left L5-S1 lumbar laminectomy and foraminotomy with decompression; left L5-S1 fusion with autograft; BMP implantation; and micro-operative technique. Under general anesthesia, the doctor re-did the left L5-S1 lumbar laminectomy and foraminotomy.

Result

Settlement, $1,050,000.