Ex-Oakland Raider Sues San Francisco Club After Slip and Fall Accident

Former NFL star and Oakland Raider, Langston Walker is suing an exclusive San Francisco members-only club after suffering injuries from a slip and fall on the premises last year. In court documents filed in January, Walker says he was a member of the City Club of San Francisco when he walked into its lobby on March 9 to eat lunch. While walking toward the elevators, Walker stepped onto “wet marble flooring” causing him to slip and fall and sustain injuries, according to the lawsuit. After screaming out in pain, City Club employees escorted Walker to a chair and called paramedics who later took him to the hospital.

The lawsuit contends that the club was negligent for failing to maintain its lobby floor. This led Walker to slip and fall and caused him serious injuries including “rupturing his left quadriceps tendon and tearing his right rotator cuff.” Both injuries required surgical intervention, according to the lawsuit. His wife is also suing the club for “loss of love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, society, and moral support.” An attorney representing the Walkers said in a statement that his client continues to recover from his injuries.

Elements of negligence

Slip and fall lawsuits are a type of premises liability claim. In California, most premises liability claims require that the plaintiff prove negligence. Negligence is typically proven by establishing that the accident was foreseeable by the premises owner or operator. In this case, the plaintiff will have to establish that the defendant either knew or should have known about the dangerous condition that led to his slip and fall.

To recover damages in a slip and fall lawsuit in California, you must establish 4 elements that prove negligence. Those are:

• The defendant owned, leased, occupied, or controlled the property
• The defendant knew, should have known, or caused a dangerous condition to be present on the property
• The plaintiff was harmed or sustained injuries as a result of the dangerous condition on the property
• The defendant’s negligence was a substantial factor in the resulting harm caused to the plaintiff

When a condition on the property creates an unreasonable risk of harm and the property controller either knew or should have known through the ordinary exercise of care that the dangerous condition was present, the property owner is considered negligent under California law.

In this case, the property owner is likely to claim that they weren’t aware of the dangerous condition on the premises and didn’t have enough time to remedy it. In that way, they can claim that they were not negligent for the plaintiff’s injuries. The plaintiff, in response, can establish that the dangerous condition was left unremedied for a protracted period of time or that an employee knew about the dangerous condition, but failed to remedy it.

Talk to an Oakland, CA Slip and Fall Accident Attorney Today

The Oakland personal injury lawyers at Venardi Zurada represent the interests of those who have slipped, tripped, or fallen on dangerous or unkept premises. Call our office today to schedule a free consultation and we can begin discussing your case immediately.

Source:

sfstandard.com/2024/01/25/san-francisco-club-lawsuit-ex-oakland-raider/