Louisiana Voice

Slip and fall lawsuits don’t normally grab the media’s attention because they’re as common as those lawyer ads that give local TV news programs a reason to exist.

(And speaking of lawyer ads, we really have some beauties on the Baton Rouge stations. While the joke at one time was that TV news existed only to keep the lawyer ads from bumping together, that’s no longer a valid observation. Today, it’s not unusual to have three different lawyer ads back-to-back-to-back during local news programs. We have one with a talking dog that’s especially bad and another features a lawyer hiking in the woods – in wing-tip shoes. And the ones with paid shills giving testimonies about how much they got in their lawsuit but they fail to tell us how much of that so-called award went to attorney’s fees, expert costs, court costs, court reporter costs, etc.)

Oh, yes, slip and fall lawsuits. There was one in Hammond where a family was walking in a large chain store and Mama slipped and fell. And wouldn’t you know, Junior just happened to be recording the whole thing on his video camera – just in case Mama fell, I suppose. It took only a nano-second for that lawsuit to get thrown out.

But there’s an unusual slip and fall case pending in federal court in Lafayette that might bear closer scrutiny because of an existing policy of the defendant that makes the chain a target for future similar litigation.

Plaintiff Sharon Blanchard is suing Circle K convenience store after she slipped on standing water inside a story in Youngsville on Sept. 3, 2018, and struck her head and coccyx (tailbone), resulting in “traumatic brain injury, post traumatic headaches, multi-level lumbar disc injuries requiring surgery and psychological/emotional injuries.

Nothing out of the ordinary for such a lawsuit so far.

But then there’s the deposition of Circle K employee Corey Crochet on De. 1, 2020, that could conceivably attract more slip and fall cases like ants to a picnic. Shoot, it could even produce a class-action slip and fall action. Now a class-action slip and fall suit would truly be unique.

So, what did Crochet say in his deposition that would make it so… well, convenient to join in the fun of suing your friendly neighborhood Circle K store?

Besides Blanchard’s claim that Crochet knew of the accumulated water at the store entrance, Crochet’s testimony “detailed Circle K policy of not using mats or rugs at entrance areas and of his own personal experience of concern for the slippery condition of the floor at the store entrance,” the court noted.

Blanchard attempted unsuccessfully to amend Circle K Regional Director of Operations Olajuwan Alexander into her lawsuit as a defendant because, Blanchard says, Alexander was the “policymaker who implemented an oral policy of removing floor mats from stores within his region beginning in 2018.

“The uncontested evidence before this Court [is] that Alexander was tasked by Circle K with implementing a policy regarding the use of floor mats in stores within his region,” U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Hanna ruled. “Alexander determined that the use of floor mats, which often became warped, torn or otherwise unserviceable, created a trip hazard for guests and orally directed stores within his region to cease using mats for this reason. As an alternative, Alexander directed that stores would display ‘wet floor’ warning signs and periodically wet and dry mop floors on rainy days to mitigate slip and fall hazards,” Hanna wrote.

Though Blanchard’s attempt to amend Crochet and Alexander into her litigation as defendants wad denied, Judge Hanna said his denial would have no effect on her claim against Circle K.