Slip & Fall Settlement

The Case

A 62-year-old retired schoolteacher slipped on an unmarked wet floor in a major grocery store in Lawrenceville, Georgia. The store had recently mopped the produce section but failed to place any wet floor warning signs. Our client fell hard on the tile floor, fracturing her hip and wrist. She required a total hip replacement surgery and extensive physical therapy. The fall also exacerbated her pre-existing osteoporosis, leading to a slower and more complicated recovery that lasted over 14 months.

The Challenge

The grocery store chain hired aggressive defense counsel who argued that our client was not paying attention to where she was walking and that her osteoporosis -- not the fall itself -- was the primary cause of the hip fracture. They claimed that a person with healthy bones would not have sustained such severe injuries from a simple slip. The defense also argued that the floor was only slightly damp and that our client should have noticed the condition. Security camera footage was initially reported as “unavailable,” raising concerns about evidence spoliation.

The Result

Our team filed a preservation letter immediately after being retained, and subsequent litigation uncovered that the security footage did exist and clearly showed our client walking at a normal pace before suddenly slipping on the wet surface -- with no warning signs visible anywhere in the frame. The footage also showed a store employee mopping the area just minutes before the fall without placing any signage. Our orthopedic expert testified that the fall would have caused significant injury even in a person without osteoporosis, and that the pre-existing condition did not negate the store's liability. The case settled for $850,000 after we deposed the store manager and obtained the corporate safety manual showing the store violated its own wet floor signage policies.