Snow and Ice

Jury verdict in premises liability case

In one of the first civil trials following the lifting of the COVID-19 court closures, SUGARMAN partner David McCormack obtained a jury verdict for a client who sustained a severe femur fracture after slipping on ice at the corporate defendant’s property. For several days following a snowstorm, the defendant and its employees failed to inspect the property, a busy gas station and convenience store in Lowell, and failed to find and treat the ice that caused the plaintiff to slip and fall. The jury, sitting for Middlesex Superior Court in Lowell, returned a verdict in favor of SUGARMAN’s client after just 3 hours of deliberations.

Town building inspector slips on ice during inspection

Settlement for a town building inspector who slipped on an icy unpaved driveway while performing an inspection of the defendant’s property, resulting in severe and permanent leg injuries that rendered him totally disabled from performing his job as a building inspector.

Electrician slips and falls on ice outside work

Pre-trial settlement for electrician who slipped on a large patch of ice in the parking lot of his work and suffered a severe ankle fracture which prevented him from returning to work. The owner of the property knew for many years that water would leak out of a pipe on the side of the commercial building and then freeze in the parking lot, but took no steps to remedy it.

Loading dock worker injured neck due to slip and fall on ice

Settlement for plaintiff against owner of loading dock for failure to properly remove ice from walking surfaces, causing fall and neck injury requiring cervical fusion surgery.

Slip on ice by grocery clerk

Settlement reached for a grocery clerk who slipped on ice in the employee parking lot as he was leaving work for the day, resulting in quadriplegic injuries.

Ankle fracture after fall

Settlement for a woman after she slipped and fell on ice which had accumulated on the walkway of her condominium in a 55+ community northeast of Boston. SUGARMAN’s attorneys established that the condo association failed to take proper precautions to salt and sand the areas where residents would walk. The case settled at mediation.

Nursing home guest slips on ice leaving facility

Settlement for a middle-aged woman who slipped and fell on an ice patch at the entrance to the defendant’s nursing home resulting in a rotator cuff tear requiring surgical repair, and back injuries. The client had been visiting her elderly father at the nursing home.