$2.75M Settlement for Workplace Fall That Caused Severe Spinal Injuries

Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky attorneys Robert Braker, Ryan Cohen, and Peter Veloski secured a $2.75 million settlement for their 63-year-old client who suffered debilitating spinal injuries requiring multiple surgeries, in a 2018 workplace fall.

The accident occurred at a Philadelphia grocery store, inside of a walk-in-freezer located in a storage area. The Plaintiff, who was the seafood manager of the grocery store, was retrieving a box of frozen seafood from the walk-in freezer when she slipped and fell on an accumulation of ice on the floor. In the months prior to the accident, the freezer had been malfunctioning, which caused a buildup of frost and ice inside the freezer due to excessive moisture.

A negligence lawsuit was filed against the maintenance company which been contracted to maintain the freezer. Through the course of discovery, Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky attorneys uncovered evidence that the icing problems began in July 2018, shortly after the defendant performed a conversion of the freezer to allow it to perform at lower temperatures. The evidence showed that, over the course of the next three months, grocery store management repeatedly contacted the defendant maintenance company to fix the icing problem, but it failed to do anything to stop the ice from getting worse.

The lawsuit alleged the Defendant failed to install a required component on the freezer, which it knew was required to prevent the icing problem which caused the accident. Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky attorneys developed evidence which showed the maintenance company knew the ice was an urgent safety issue and it advised grocery store management that it would install the required component in September 2018, two and a half weeks prior to the accident, but failed to install the required safety component before the accident occurred.

Defendants argued that Plaintiff and her employer were at fault for the accident, since they controlled the freezer, were responsible for safety, and should have taken other actions to remove the ice from the freezer.

“This settlement will provide our client with the care she needs. It should also send a message that companies operating in Philadelphia must take responsibility for their work, even when they make mistakes.” – Robert N. Braker

“We proved the Defendant did nothing to follow through with the required installation it had promised to perform. Here, the Defendant could not escape the reality it had failed to follow through on its promise to provide its customer with the equipment it needed to keep their employees and our client safe.” – J. Peter Veloski.