PITTSBURGH – A Western Pennsylvania couple have settled their claims against an Illinois-headquartered farmers market chain, after one of the plaintiffs struck a raised bumper and fell while shopping in a local store owned by the defendant.
Paul Ryder and Jodi Ryder of Ingomar first filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Sept. 24, 2020 versus Lakes Venture, LLC (doing business as “Fresh Thyme Farmers Market”), of Downers Grove, Ill.
The suit explained the plaintiffs were shopping at the defendant’s location in Cranberry Township on Jan. 1, when the husband-plaintiff Paul Ryder encountered an unsafe, dangerous and/or otherwise hazardous condition consisting of a raised bumper which caused him to fall and strike his body on the ground.
The plaintiffs said the defendant permitted the premises to be and remain in an unsafe, dangerous and/or hazardous condition, failing to properly inspect the raised bumper on the premises and failing to warn shoppers and visitors of that condition, among other theories of negligence.
As a result, the plaintiff suffered severe injuries, including pain on the right side of his body, numbness in his legs, lower back pain and injury, leg pain and injury, weakness in his legs, depression and other possible serious and/or severe injuries, the extent of which is not yet known.
The plaintiffs added they will be required to expend considerable cost on medical attention and other health care and rehabilitative services, and that the husband-plaintiff’s general health, strength and vitality have been impaired.
Counsel for Lakes Venture, LLC filed an answer to the complaint along with new matter on Dec. 22, completely denying liability and responsibility for the injuries sustained by Ryder.
It specifically denied there “was an unsafe, dangerous or otherwise hazardous condition consisting of a raised bumper on the aforesaid premises” and also denied the plaintiff’s fall was caused by “an unsafe, dangerous and otherwise hazardous condition consistent with a raised bumper.”
“Plaintiffs’ complaint fails to state a proper cause of action against defendant. In the event plaintiffs failed to timely file their lawsuit, defendant pleads the applicable statute of limitations as a complete bar to the plaintiffs’ complaint,” the new matter stated.
“Defense of assumption of the risk, comparative negligence and contributory negligence are automatically pled pursuant to Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure. In the event the plaintiffs executed a release or waiver, defendant pleads the release of waiver as a defense to the plaintiffs’ complaint.”
Plaintiff counsel filed a reply to the defendant’s new matter on July 1, denying it in its entirety.
“The averments contained within…defendant’s new matter contain legal conclusions to which no response is required. To the extent that a response is required, these averments are denied, and strict proof thereof is demanded at the time of trial,” the reply said.
UPDATE
On Nov. 10, it was announced that the plaintiffs had settled their litigation against the farmers’ market retailer. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
“Kindly mark the docket in the above matter settled and discontinued,” the praecipe read.
Prior to settlement and for counts of negligence and loss of consortium, the plaintiffs were seeking damages in excess of the arbitration limits of the county, plus costs, interest and a trial by jury.
The plaintiffs were represented by Jepthah M. Orstein of Ainsman Levine, in Pittsburgh.
The defendant was represented by John F. Deasy of Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, also in Pittsburgh.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-20-010155
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com