What the Media Does Not Understand about Premises Liability

By Christopher Nace | October 1, 2015

A woman recently sued Dunkin’ Donuts and settled her premises liability case for $522,000. The media has had a bit of a field day with the story (as have the commenters on the sites covering the news) because they assume that this is another hot coffee lawsuit. In actuality, the victim “tripped over an exposed spike from a dislodged curb stop, causing her to spill the coffee on her face and neck” back in 2012. According to CNBC, she also sustained serious injuries to her back and shoulder which required surgery.

This is very clearly a trip-and-fall case, but the media seems to focus more on the coffee-related burns than anything else. There have been a number of references to perhaps the most famous coffee burn case in American history – that of Stella Liebeck, who was awarded millions of dollars by a jury after she suffered third degree burns on almost 16% of her body. The media covered that story as a way to rail against large jury awards, and people around the country hopped on the tort reform bandwagon without hearing the full truth. It even spurred an HBO documentary in 2011, Hot Coffee, which looked into the ways media and Big Business can affect how we view victims.

The dangers of a serious fall

The victim in this latest case suffered serious injuries, ones that required surgery. A bad trip, slip and fall can lead to other serious consequences as well, including:

  • Traumatic brain injuries from hitting one’s head on the floor, or on an object (like a shelf, a tree or a piece of furniture, for example) while falling. TBIs can lead to permanent brain damage if severe enough.
  • Broken bones and fractures. These require time spent in a cast, if one is lucky, or can affect one’s mobility on a permanent basis in a worst-case scenario.
  • Internal organ or tissues damage. If the fall took place from a greater height – such as from a ladder, scaffold or roof – the internal organs can be bruised or even punctured, depending on where the person fell. Internal bleeding can be deadly if not diagnosed and treated in time.
  • Spinal cord injuries if one falls directly onto one’s back. A SCI can cause paralysis that is temporary or permanent, partial or total.

The victim of the trip and fall at Dunkin’ Donuts needed compensation for her medical expenses and her lost time at work, and deserved to be compensated for her pain and suffering, as her fall was caused by an act of negligence on behalf of the company and/or the strip mall where it was located. As her attorney told CNBC, she “is hopeful that the settlement will serve to remind business owners that their customer’s safety should always be a priority.” We could not agree more.

Posted in Law Blog, Premises Liability