PITTSBURGH – A pair of Pittsburgh plaintiffs allege that Satalio’s Restaurant had a non-compliant outdoor wooden deck attached to its property, which they fell from last fall and sustained several serious injuries in the process.
Leeann Marie Hlavac and Darrell Lamar Evans filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Feb. 9 versus Satalio’s, Inc. All parties are of Pittsburgh.
“At all times relevant hereto, based upon information and belief, the facts and occurrences stated below took place on or about Sept. 20, 2022, at approximately 1 a.m., on an outdoor, above-grade, wooden deck affixed to the side of the situs. At all times relevant hereto, the deck was approximately 12ft x 75ft and elevated approximately 12-15 feet above-grade,” the suit says.
“Upon information and belief, Satalio’s is a bar/restaurant, open to the public, and located in the Mt. Washington section of the City of Pittsburgh. At all times relevant hereto, plaintiffs were patrons of Satalio’s, therefore business invitees, were lawfully at the situs of defendant and there existed a dangerous condition at the situs.”
The suit adds that this dangerous condition consisted of “an above-grade deck that was equipped or constructed with a damaged, decayed, dilapidated, structurally unsafe type or kind of hand railing and/or guard rail system, repaired and/or maintained via the usage of multiple plastic zip ties, thereby creating the risk of serious bodily injury or harm from a fall hazard and/or the inability to prevent and/or ameliorate the risk of harm from a fall; and, there was an ongoing failure to have the situation properly remedied.”
“It is contended that prior to the subject incident, defendant knew or had reasons to know the deck was elevated above-grade such that a hand rail and/or guard rail system free from damage, decay, dilapidation, structural unsafe construction was required; and, that the deck was unsafe, repaired and/or maintained via the usage of multiple plastic zip ties, not code complaint and/or below industry standards for safe and proper deck construction. At all times relevant hereto, defendant allowed invitees, generally; and, plaintiffs specifically, unrestricted use and access to a deck that was not equipped with a structurally safe hand railing or guard rail; and, the absence of this safety equipment at the situs on the date-of-loss was a direct, substantial and proximate cause of plaintiffs’ injuries,” the suit states.
“In fact, the City of Pittsburgh, Department of Permits, Licenses, and Inspections, on Sept. 21, 2002, following an inspection of the deck and situs the day following the railing failure, issued a Violation; specifically, Section 2015 IPMC 108.1.1, stating, ‘deck or structure gave way...[An] unsafe structure is one that is found to be dangerous to the life, health, property of safety of the public or the occupants in the event of fire, or because such structure contains unsafe equipment or is so damaged, decayed, dilapidated, structurally unsafe or of such faulty construction or unstable foundation, that partial or complete collapse is possible.’ Due to the fact that defendant failed to obtain the necessary building permit[s] prior to constructing the 12 ft. x 75 f. and elevated approximately 12-15 feet above-grade deck on the situs, the City of Pittsburgh, Department of Permits, Licenses, and Inspections, on Sept. 21, 2002, admonished defendant to take correction actions; specifically, ‘[Secure] valid permit(s) and correct condemnation violations or remove entire deck.”
At that time, the plaintiffs allege that they “fell from the above-grade deck approximately 12-15 feet onto a hardened cement surface and suffered severe, traumatic and permanent injuries requiring ambulatory, long-term and ongoing medical care.”
For two counts of negligence, the plaintiff is seeking damages, individually and collectively, in excess of $50,000.
The plaintiffs are represented by Michael P. O’Day of the Law Offices of Michael O’Day, in Pittsburgh.
The defendant has not yet obtained legal counsel.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-23-001902
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com