Morrison Mahoney Partner John Knight and Associate Dimitris Tan recently secured a defense verdict in a trip and fall case after a five-day trial in Hampden Superior Court, arising from an alleged stairway defect at a casino.
Plaintiff alleged she fell down the stairway due to violations of the Massachusetts building code, including the absence of a contrasting marking stripe at the landing edge and the lack of an intermediate handrail. Her building code/liability expert opined that these conditions constituted code violations and caused the accident. Plaintiff claimed permanent injuries to her right foot/ankle and right hip.
John and Dimitris argued that plaintiff’s own inattention caused the fall. Surveillance footage of the incident proved critical, showing plaintiff was not watching where she was stepping, and strongly supported the defense’s position that her own conduct rather than any alleged defect caused the accident. They presented their own building code expert who testified that the stairway complied with applicable code requirements and was safe. John and Dimitris also offered a medical expert who opined that plaintiff’s current limitations stemmed from preexisting osteoarthritis rather than any acute, permanent injury from the incident. Plaintiff’s credibility was further damaged by a comprehensive social-media investigation that revealed numerous posts and videos of her hiking, running up and down stairs, and dancing more than a year after the accident, activities inconsistent with her claimed limitations.
The jury returned a defense verdict after 30 minutes of deliberation.
