Verdicts- Firm Obtains Directed Verdict on behalf of Universal Studios This case involved a travel agent accompanying students on a group tour at Universal Studios. Plaintiff was leaving Universal on the escalator going down to the parking area, when she claims the escalator stopped without warning, and this caused her to fall. Plaintiff did not seek medical treatment during her trip in Florida. Plaintiff sued Universal and amended her Complaint to add Kone, Inc., as a party Defendant.Venue for the trial was Orange County, Florida before the Honorable James C. Hauser. Clement Hyland with the law firm of Morgan, Colling & Gilbert tried the case on behalf of the Plaintiff. Counsel for Co-Defendant Kone was J. Scott Kirk, Esquire with Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell. Plaintiff proceeded on the theory that the escalator stopped without any warning, therefore, there must have been negligence involved. In Plaintiff’s deposition, she stated that she had no idea why the escalator suddenly stopped. She did not know whether the escalator stopped because of a mechanical malfunction or a defect, or whether someone manually stopped the escalator, and if so, who stopped the escalator. No evidence was adduced, which established that Universal was in any way negligent, nor contributed in any way to the accident. Kone technicians, who work full-time at Universal, maintaining and repairing escalators, elevators and people-movers, stated they knew of nothing Universal did, which may have caused or contributed to this incident. Universal contracted with Kone to provide all of the maintenance and service for the escalator in question. Universal’s contract with Kone contained a provision wherein Kone agreed to defend, release, indemnify and hold Universal harmless from and against any and all claims, suit, judgment, damages, losses, and expenses arising out of any portion of the work they were to perform. Plaintiff claimed that she was riding down the escalator with both hands on the rails, when the escalator stopped “abruptly” causing her to fall. As a result of the incident, Plaintiff claimed that she sustained a cut on her right foot, that her left knee was extremely swollen, and that her right shoulder was sore and black and blue for several days following the accident. Three days after the accident, Plaintiff made an appointment to see her family physician. Her family physician referred her to an Orthopedic Surgeon. Due to her obesity, the surgeon stated that the size of her leg made it difficult to assess any effusion. He thought that the patient may have a torn medial meniscus. He prescribed four weeks of physical therapy. An MRI revealed an under surface tear of the posterior horn medial meniscus, as well as a chondral thinning of the patellofemoral joint and medial compartment. The orthopedic surgeon performed arthroscopic surgery for a torn left meniscus. Plaintiff showed marked improvement after the surgery. A year later, radiographs of both knees showed advanced medial compartment arthritis and patellofemoral arthritis. During a subsequent visit, the orthopedic surgeon advised the Plaintiff that she would benefit from a total knee replacement. The orthopedic surgeon did not causally connect the meniscus tear to the incident. Further, he stated that an equally plausible explanation was that the meniscus tear was caused by Plaintiff’s pre-existing degenerative condition. He also admitted that his pre-surgical diagnosis and post-surgical diagnosis was that the tear was caused by degeneration, rather than trauma. In any event, the surgeon stated that the surgery was a complete success. Other witnesses stated that Plaintiff lived in three-story house and walked the stairs without difficulty on a daily basis. Special thanks to Gina Santos of Universal and Universal City Development Partners, L.P. for allowing us to take this case to trial. |