A Florida business establishment or cruise line’s negligence may cause you to slip or trip fall and suffer a neck injury. If this happens, you be able to get compensation for your damages.
This article focuses on slip, trip and fall cases and other premises cases that cause a neck injury in Florida or on a cruise. I wrote a separate article on Florida car, truck and motorcycle accident cases for neck injuries.
The cases below are not mine unless I specifically say that they are.
Shopping Center Not Liable for Patron’s Neck Injury; Object Fell Through Hole in Ceiling
Check out a case where a jury found that a shopping center was not liable when a rock or hard clay fell through a ceiling and onto a patron at a hair salon.
The patron claimed a neck and head injury.
Shopper Wins $12,000 against Target for Neck Herniation
See a $12,000 verdict where a shopper claimed that she slipped on a puddle of liquid inside a Target store in West Kendall, Miami-Dade County, Florida.
Target denied fault. The shopper claimed that the fall caused or worsened her herniated disc in her neck.
She also claimed that the fall caused her patella fracture, and surgery on her torn meniscus.
2013 Verdict: $70,000 for pain and suffering damages for neck injury from fall at Publix
It happened in Miami-Dade County, Florida. An adult female claimed C4-C6 herniations after she slipped and fell at Publix.
She claimed that laundry detergent had spilled on the floor. She claimed that Publix failed to keep the sales floor reasonably safe.
She claimed that Publix failed to warn her of the dangerous condition.
She claimed that Publix knew or should have known of the condition.
She claimed that the assistant store manager heard the detergent fall. She claimed he was cleaning the spill right before she came down the aisle and fell.
The jury found the injured lady 75% at fault. The jury also awarded $79,000 in past medical expenses, and $85,000 in future medical expenses. The date of the accident was 2008. Since she was 75% at fault.
Therefore, she is entitled to 25% of the total verdict. This means that the judgement is for approximately $58,500.
My thoughts: It seems like she had a good argument that Publix knew of the spill. It is often difficult to prove that Publix knew of a substance being on the floor before the shopper’s slip and fall.
My understanding is that the Publix assistant manager was cleaning the spill when the shopper came down the aisle.
I assume that the jury felt that she was very careless for not walking more carefully after seeing the assistant manager cleaning a spill. This jury awarded a good amount of money for the pain and suffering damages for a herniated disc.
Date of Slip and Fall: August 2008. Dominguez v. Publix Super Markets. Learn more about herniated disc cases with Publix Supermarkets in Florida.
Actual case: $1,000 in past pain and suffering for fall at Winn-Dixie Store in Miami
The shopper claimed soft tissue injuries to her neck and back as well as headaches. She claimed to have fallen on a raspberry that was on the floor.
Winn-Dixie argued that the floor was inspected shortly before the fall and nothing was on the floor. She was a 45 year-old female housekeeper.
Winn-Dixie offered $8,000 to settle but the shopper rejected it. $13,864 was awarded for past pain and suffering. The verdict was in 2001 and the case is Casteneda vs. Winn-Dixie Stores.
My thoughts: I am unsure how much of the verdict was for neck pain vs. has much was for back pain and headaches. It appears that a problem with this case was that the jury may have felt that shopper’s injuries may not have been permanent.
I say this because the jury did not award any money for future pain and suffering.
If the shopper had been hit by a Winn-Dixie truck in Florida, then she would not have received any money for pain and suffering if she was not able to prove that she had a permanent injury. The same applies if she would have been hit by a Walmart or Publix truck in Florida.
I am not sure how much fault, if any, was placed on the shopper for not looking where she was walking. If fault was placed on the shopper, the entire verdict is reduced by the shopper’s percentage of fault.
DeCruz-Haymer v. Festival Food Mkt Inc., 117 So. 3d 885, 888 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013)
In DeCruz-Haymer, Paulette De Cruz-Haymer sued Festival Food Market. Festival was doing business as Bravo Supermarket.
This case was heard in Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeal, which handles appeals from Palm Beach, Broward, St. Lucie, Martin, Indian River, and Okeechobee Counties. The 4th DCA is located in West Palm Beach, Florida.
(Learn more about slip, trip and fall claims against Florida supermarkets). Paulette fell face down, suffering a cut above her left eye and injuring her neck, back, both elbows, and both knees.
The obvious danger doctrine says that an owner or possessor of land is not liable for injuries to an invitee caused by a dangerous condition on the premises when the danger is known or obvious to the injured party, unless the owner or possessor should anticipate the harm despite the fact that the dangerous condition is open and obvious.
The fact that a danger is obvious discharges a landowner’s duty to warn. It does not discharge the landowner’s duty to maintain his premises. The appeals court let this case continue to trial. This is not my case though.
Neck Injury from Trip and Fall on Carpet at Miami Beach Condo
Herniated Disc Verdicts
Actual Case: $550,000 Verdict (Not my case) for Pain and Suffering only for an adult woman who suffered a herniated discs and osteophyte complex at C4-5, C5-C6, C6-C7.
She also had pain in her tailbone when she slipped and fell on a clear substance on a stairway at a condominium building owned by the defendant.
It happened in Orange County, Florida. She said that the condominium association failed to inspect the stairway and fix the dangerous condition (the substance on the floor).
The condo association said that they did not know and that it was unreasonable for them to know of the alleged dangerous condition. Defendants also said that the woman did not provide notice to them of the condition of the stairway as required by Florida Statute Section 83.201.
The jury found the condo association 60% at fault and the woman 40% at fault.
My thoughts: The jury awarded a huge amount, $375,617, for past medical bills. That leads me to believe that there were surgeries. The jury awarded the woman almost $120,000 in pain and suffering for each herniated disc.
This is above the starting point that I believe fair for purposes settlement value for pain and suffering from a herniated disc in a Florida accident.
I have said before that the starting is between $25,000 and $50,000 for pain and suffering only. The case is Manzo v. The Sanctuary at Bay Hill Condominium Association, Inc.; Apogee Association.
Actual Case (not mine): $370,000 Verdict for Pain and Suffering
A 57-year-old woman who had a 3 level cervical (neck) fusion, as well as surgery on her shoulder.
She had a herniated disc in her neck. She was injured at Home Depot in Vero Beach, Florida when a metal rack fell on her neck and shoulder.
She was awarded $150,000 in past pain and suffering, and $220,000 in future pain and suffering. Read more about this injury verdict against Home Depot. The case is Simone v. Home Depot. The verdict was in 2008.
Home Depot most likely uses a third party administrator (TPA) to handle its claims. Some of Home Depot’s big competitors in Florida are Lowe’s, Sears, Best Buy, Lumber Liquidators and hh gregg. (Learn about slip and fall injury claims against Home Depot in Florida.)
HH gregg uses Gallagher Bassett as its TPA for injury claims.
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