PHILADELPHIA – A woman who failed to present evidence that her injuries were caused by a slip-and-fall has lost her lawsuit against West Vincent Township.
On Sept. 15, the state Superior Court affirmed a Chester County ruling against Patricia Kozak, who argued she did not need to present an expert opinion in her lawsuit over an alleged fall outside West Vincent’s municipal building in Chester Springs in 2015.
She said it was obvious her resulting injuries of “cognitive difficulties” were the type one could expect from the impact of her fall, though she admitted to landing on her hands and knees.
“We disagree with her contention that speech and cognitive difficulties are ‘either an ‘immediate and direct’ or the ‘natural and probable’ result of” falling onto one’s hands and knees,’” Judge Daniel McCaffrey wrote.
“Instead, no ‘obvious causal relationship’ exists between Appellant’s fall and symptoms.”
Though a neuropsychological report said Kozak’s symptoms began after she fell, it noted she did not hit her head or lose consciousness.
“It is unclear how she would have sustained a concussion from this incident and it is unlikely her reported cognitive symptoms resulted from a concussion,” that report said.