Legal Question in Personal Injury in Pennsylvania

Personal Injury Requiring Medical Attention

I entered a grocery store. I saw the elderly woman whom I took to the store in line checking out. I grabbed and hopped over a railing seperating the entrance area from the checkout lines when the railing collapsed. I fell to the floor and hit my head. My eyebrow was cut open about two inches and bleeding everywhere. No one from the store came to help me even though they knew I fell. A woman shopping in the store came over and gave me something to put on my eye to stop the bleeding. I went to the emergency room where I required 9 stitches above my eye and a tetanus shot. I am not a heavy young man, only about 135 lbs. The railing was definitely not sturdy. Someone even commented, better you than some old person. Would you consider the store negligent? Would I be entitled to some type of financial settlement?


Asked on 10/23/99, 8:59 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Re: Personal Injury Requiring Medical Attention

The railing probably wasn't designed for what you did, but that doesn't mean that it should have collapsed. There may be some negligence on both your part and the store's part. In Pennsylvania, your recovery is reduced by the percentage of your negligence, up to 50%. If you are 50% negligent, your verdict or award is reduced by 50%; if you are 51% negligent, you get nothing. There also may be a strict liability claim (was the railing unreasonably dangerous?) against the manufacturer, which does not take into account negligence percentages. The nature of your injuries indicates that your case has sympathy value, an intangible but important aspect.

This reply is general information and not legal advice. For me to give legal advice, we would have to establish an attorney-client relationship, which we do not have at this point.

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Answered on 10/27/99, 2:32 pm


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