$16 Million Injury Claim for Ferry Worker
Dang. That’s a big ‘un.
Short version: Loading ramp falls on worker from Alaska ferry, worker suffers catastrophic injuries. Turns out the Port where she was unloading a ferry knew of the dangers of this ramp as there had been a similar, yet not as horrific, accident a few years prior. Interestingly, a report on the previous incident was commissioned, and the report states, “We point out that the result of this incident could have been much worse,” essentially predicting this subsequent incident.
That little bit of prophecy turned out to be all too accurate, and damning. Because this report existed it was obvious that the Port knew of the danger and failed to act to remedy it. This evidence is what allowed for the massive liability verdict.
The moral of this story is that notice is a big deal in premises liability cases. When you can prove that someone had notice of a dangerous condition and failed to act it can be very powerful. The difficulty in most cases is proving this notice. To my knowledge, Food Lion has never commissioned a study on why their floors are always so slick. Oh, but I wish they did.
Good luck out there, law fans.