PENNSYLVANIA RECORD

A food delivery worker who claims he was injured while on the premises of a local

hospital two summers ago has initiated a personal injury complaint against the healthcare agency and others in state court.

While making a delivery in his capacity as a driver for U.S. Foods in late July 2010, Sicklerville, N.J. resident Michael McKeown claims he became injured after tripping over a metal plate that had been protruding from a trash dumpster outside of Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia.

At the time of the incident, McKeown was attempting to discard trash in the dumpster owned and operated by Waste Management Inc., which is named as an additional defendant in the lawsuit.

As a result of his fall, McKeown sustained injuries to his left shoulder, left thumb and right knee, the complaint states. He ended up having to undergo surgery for severe tendon tears in his shoulder, and he continues to experience external rotation limits and lack of functional strength and endurance in his left shoulder.

The lawsuit claims that McKeown has had to spend various sums of money on medical attention, he continues to suffer “great pain, agony, disability, mental anguish, embarrassment and humiliation,” he has sustained earnings loss and he has incurred a workers’ compensation lien, which continues to grow, all as a result of the slip-and-fall incident.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants, which also includes Temple University Health System and Precision Hydraulic Services Inc., of negligence for allowing and permitting a tripping hazard, consisting of a dumpster with a raised, large bowed metal plate, to exist on hospital premises; failing to regularly inspect hospital premises so as to allow the dangerous condition; failing to warn or notify the plaintiff of the dangerous condition; failing to remedy the dangerous condition; and failing to display warning or caution signs in an appropriate location.

McKeown demands judgment against the defendants in a sum in excess of $50,000 for compensatory damages, damages for pain and suffering, lost wages, damages for disability and impairment, the workers’ compensation lien, costs and attorney’s fees.

The lawsuit was filed by Cherry Hill, N.J. attorney Andrew J. Rossetti of the firm Rossetti & DeVoto.

 

The case ID number is 120702473.