Fullerton Beck Secures Defense Verdict in Premises Liability Suit

Eileen Becker, managing partner of Fullerton Beck’s Connecticut office, obtained a complete defense verdict on behalf of a corporate property owner following a jury trial in Hartford Superior Court.

The plaintiff, a 75-year-old tenant, alleged she fell late at night on a stairway inside her townhouse style condominium unit. She claimed the handrail was defective and failed to meet current building code requirements for height, continuity and “graspability.” She sustained a fractured hip requiring an emergency partial hip replacement that was later converted to a total hip replacement. Her medical expenses, which exceeded $200,000, were paid by Medicare and subject to statutory lien that prevented the case from being settled prior to trial. At trial, the plaintiff’s attorney demanded $1.2 million.

The defense demonstrated that the complex, built in the mid-1980s, complied with the codes in effect at the time and was properly grandfathered. Fullerton Beck also refuted the plaintiff’s attempt to classify the complex as an apartment building subject to retroactive fire code provisions. The defense emphasized that a handrail was present, the premises were reasonably safe, and the plaintiff could not establish that the alleged issues with the handrail caused her fall.

Following seven days of trial, including four days of jury selection and three days of evidence with expert testimony on both sides, the jury deliberated slightly more than two hours before returning a verdict for the defense, awarding zero damages. This was Eileen’s third trial in the past 12 months.