Broken arm and injured knee lead to slip-and-fall suit against Archdiocese of Phila. by Aramark employee

An employee of the food services company Aramark has filed a civil complaint against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia over a broken arm and injured knee she allegedly sustained while working in the kitchen of an area Catholic school nearly two years ago.

Laura Miller, of Lansdale, Montgomery County, filed suit Sept. 23 against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which operates Lansdale Catholic High School, the site of an Oct. 31, 2011, incident in which Miller claims she became injured after tripping on irregularities and depressions in the floor of the high school’s kitchen.

The complaint, which was filed at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas by Jenkintown, Pa. attorney Brian M. Felgoise, says that Miller at the time was forced to walk over a drain in the floor that measured more than an inch lower than the floor.

The suit says that the indentation was caused when workers removed a dishwasher but left the drain intact.

“There is no possible manner in which plaintiff could have avoided the drain,” the complaint reads.

The incident allegedly caused Miller to sustain “serious and painful injuries,” including internal derangement of the right knee requiring surgery and a left arm fracture.

Miller says that she has had to spend money on medicines and medical treatment necessitated by her injuries, and that she has suffered a loss of income and earning capacity due to her inability to work.

The lawsuit accuses the Archdiocese of Philadelphia of negligence for allowing a defective condition to exist in a high foot traffic area, failing to repair the defective condition, failing to warn people of the hazard that existed on the premises, and permitting dangerous occurrences on its property.

The complaint also contains a loss of consortium count on behalf of the plaintiff’s husband, David Miller.

The couple seeks more than $50,000 in damages.

 

The case ID number is 130902569.