PHILADELPHIA – Reading Terminal Market's Merchant Association filed a motion for summary judgment, which successfully resulted in being dismissed from a negligence suit last week.
On July 17, Judge Marlene F. Lachman of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas dismissed all claims against Reading Terminal Market Merchants' Association with prejudice.
In December 2013, Philadelphia residents Yvette Nix-Riley and her husband James Riley filed suit against a long list of defendants in connection with a slip-and-fall accident in the Center City section of Philadelphia. The defendants included: PCCA, Philadelphia Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Worldwide in McLean, Va., Standard Parking Corporation in Chicago, Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, GF Management in Philadelphia, the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in Harrisburg, E Bass Contractors, Wyatt, Inc., Quinn Construction, Phoenix Contractors, Reading Terminal Market Corporation, Reading Terminal Market Company and Reading Terminal Market Merchants’ Association.
Nix-Riley’s suit alleges on Aug. 31, 2013, she was walking on the sidewalk on the south side of Arch Street between 11th and 12th Streets in Philadelphia, when she fell on a sidewalk near the entrance of the Philadelphia Hilton Garden Inn, parking garage and loading dock.
The suit further claims the defendants collectively had previous notice and awareness of the broken condition of the sidewalk and did not inspect, maintain or repair it, or to warn pedestrians of it.
Nix-Riley sustained a left-side disc herniation at L4-L5, a disc herniation at L5-S1, a disc protrusion at L3-L4, lumbosacral sprain and strain, and derangement of the left wrist, in addition to other injuries.
The plaintiffs are seeking an amount in excess of arbitration limits, plus court costs and other relief the court deems appropriate. James Riley is also suing for loss of consortium, on behalf of his wife, for the same amount in damages.
The plaintiffs are represented by Bentley M. Saul, of The Saul Law Building, in Philadelphia.
The defendants are represented by Richard C. Geer of the Deputy Attorney General’s Office, William F. Sweeney, John A. Livingood, Jr. and Robert K. O’Grady in Philadelphia; Sherry L. Horowitz in Bala Cynwyd; Kenneth J. Sykes of William J. Ferren & Associates in Blue Bell; Robert A. Lerman, Thomas B. Sponaugle and Joseph F. Murphy in York; Kunkle and Holko of Thomas Thomas & Hafer in Allentown; and Monica S. Lloyd of the Law Offices of Pamela Hargrove in Moorestown, N.J.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 131200385
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com