City supermarket faces premises liability lawsuit after slip-and-fall incident

A Philadelphia woman is suing a city supermarket for injuries she claims to have sustained after falling at the grocery store.

Attorneys Barton A. Hertzbach and Robert E. Price, of Law Offices of Barton A. Hertzbach, filed the slip-and-fall lawsuit Aug. 31 at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas on behalf of Rita Capers.

The defendant named in the suit is Fresh Grocer Holdings, LLC.

According to the complaint, Capers was shopping at the Fresh Grocer Supermarket at 5601 Chestnut Street in Center City Philadelphia on Aug. 4 of last year at about 6:30 in the evening when she suddenly slipped and fell on a puddle of water that had accumulated in the store’s produce aisle.

As a result of her fall, Capers sustained “debilitating personal injuries on or about the entire head, neck, back, shoulders, arms, legs, torso and extremities,” a severe shock to her nervous system and other trauma throughout her body, the lawsuit claims.

The complaint alleges that Capers has been unable to perform her regular duties, activities and occupations, and that she has had to spend vast sums of money on medical treatment.

Capers has also suffered “severe physical and emotional pain, mental anguish and humiliation,” the suit states. Her earnings have also taken a hit due to her inability to work.

The lawsuit accuses the defendant of carelessness and negligence for failing to inspect the area of the supermarket where the hazardous condition formed, failing to remedy the situation, and failing to erect signs warning customers of the dangerous condition that existed on the premises.

Capers seeks judgment against the defendant in a sum not in excess of $50,000 should the matter proceed beyond arbitration.

An arbitration hearing has been scheduled for May 4 of next year.

The case number is 110804344.