Client Injured when a Chair Collapsed
Robert Bellinson recently secured a 100% plaintiff's verdict on a difficult liability scenario stemming from an unreported accident. Our client was shopping for furniture with her son when she sat on a chair in defendant's furniture store in Brooklyn. The chair collapsed and our client fell down, sustaining spinal injuries. She was helped up by two women and proceeded to exit the store and go to the hospital. Her son was with her in the store but did not witness the accident.
Defendant claimed that the accident never occurred and there was no report of the occurrence. During cross examination, Rob was able to confirm that although there was no report of the accident, the manager never performed any type of investigation to confirm or deny the happening of the accident. Further, Rob elicited testimony showing that store employees assemble the furniture, expecting that customers will sit and "try it out"; however there were never any type of maintenance or inspection of the furniture to see whether it was safe and sturdy. After the Jury's verdict for our client the case settled for $85,000.