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Jay Williamson, et al, v. Bellevue Medical Center, LLC. NE Premises Liability
The plaintiff was visiting a friend at the Bellvue Medical Center when she tripped and fell over an unpainted curb between the driveway and sidewalk. She was then taken to the emergency department and treated. The hospital's chief executive officer visited her and apologized for the fall. Plaintiff alleged that the CEO said that the curb should have been painted, but the CEO testified that she did not remember saying that.
Prior to the accident, a concrete contractor had written to the hospital regarding a bid. It offered that the company could mark the curb yellow to "hopefully eliminate trip and fall incidents."
Plaintiff sued the hospital, but the hospital's summary judgment motion was granted. The plaintiff appealed, and the case was heard by the Nebraska Supreme Court, which affirmed.
First, even assuming that the curb posed a risk, there was no evidence that the hospital had notice that visitors would fail to see the danger or protect themselves. The curb was "ordinary and obvious" and the kind of thing that a pedestrian would expect to encounter.
304 Neb. 312 (Oct. 18, 2019)
Please see the original opinion for the court's exact language.
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Richard P. Clem is an attorney and continuing legal education (CLE) provider in Minnesota. He has been in private practice in the Twin Cities for 25 years. He has a J.D., cum laude, from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul and a B.A. in History from the University of Minnesota. His reported cases include: Asociacion Nacional de Pescadores a Pequena Escala o Artesanales de Colombia v. Dow Quimica de Colombia, 988 F.2d 559, rehearing denied, 5 F.3d 530 (5th Cir. 1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1041 (1994); LaMott v. Apple Valley Health Care Center, 465 N.W.2d 585 (Minn. Ct. App. 1991); Abo el Ela v. State, 468 N.W.2d 580 (Minn. Ct. App. 1991).
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