The Plaintiff hired the Defendant-contractor to perform work on the Plaintiff’s rental property. During the course of the construction, the Defendant cut a hole in a hallway floor for construction of a new staircase. The Plaintiff arrived on the premises to inspect ongoing work and fell through the hole six feet to the basement below. The Plaintiff sustained facial fractures, a right shoulder injury, and a lower back injury which resulted in three surgeries. Admissible special damages at trial totaled over $200,000. The defense contended it was not negligent in its construction activities and that the Plaintiff’s negligence led to this accident.

Tried
August 2001