Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, others face premises liability claim in parking garage incident

A Philadelphia woman claims in a recently filed premises liability action that she

sustained a host of bodily injuries after taking a spill down the stairs of a city parking garage owned and maintained by Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and its affiliates.

Philadelphia attorney Bentley M. Saul filed suit in state court on Aug. 7 on behalf of clients Arlene Graves and Jacob Young, who are married, over allegations that Graves became injured on Nov. 12, 2012, after falling on the grounds of a multi-level indoor parking garage near the intersection of 38^th and Filbert Streets.

The suit claims that Graves, who was on her way with her husband toward the elevator after just having parked their vehicle on the sixth floor of the garage, tripped and fell due to an uneven and ill-configured cement walking surface and steps.

As a result of her fall, Graves sustained shoulder, back and nerve injuries, the suit claims, as well as embarrassment and humiliation.

She also expects to suffer from disfigurement and scarring if surgery needs to be performed, the complaint states.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of various acts of negligence for failing to keep walking surfaces free of fall-down hazards, failing to adequately inspect the premises, permitting a dangerous condition to exist inside the parking garage and failing to afford a safe and secure area for paying customers and pedestrians.

The individual defendants named in the litigation are Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Presbyterian Hospital, The Presbyterian Hospital of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania Health System, The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine.

Graves claims she has incurred medical expenses as a result of her injuries and that she has seen earnings losses due to her inability to work while being cared for her injuries.

Young, the husband, has his own loss of consortium count in the complaint claiming he has been deprived of his wife’s companionship due to her injuries.

The couple seeks damages in excess of the arbitration limits, which is $50,000 in state court, as well as interest, costs and other legal relief.

 

The case ID number is 130800373.