On the morning of 02/14/19, the Plaintiff, Victoria, arrived at the Defendant’s premises for an appointment for her cat. She parked in the parking lot and was in the process of taking her cat out of the back seat of her car when she was caused to slip on black ice. As a result of her fall, she fractured her left proximal tibia and had a torn meniscus, both requiring surgery.
Suit was filed and the parties subsequently agreed to mediate the case. The Defendant’s maintained that there was no precipitation within 24 hours prior to the Plaintiffs fall and that the small patch of black ice was not only not visible to the Plaintiff but was unseen by the Defendant. The Defendant alleged that they acted reasonably under these circumstances. Plaintiff maintained that the Defendant failed to properly inspect the premises to ensure that the parking lot was safe for their customers to walk on to enter their facility. After several hours the mediator and the parties were able to settle the case.