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Premises Liability Lawsuit in California Gets Caretaker $903,000 in Damages

A jury has awarded $903,000 in damages to a live-in caretaker who suffered serious injuries during a fire in the patient’s house.  The premises liability lawsuit involved caretaker Lydia Sanchez who was living at the home of Dorothy Kavanaugh.  In 2006, Lydia was sleeping when she woke up to a fire that engulfed the building.  Sanchez said she tried to rescue 92-year-old Kavanaugh, but failed to do so.

Sanchez managed to exit from the window, but suffered serious injuries.  Her injuries were mostly smoke inhalation-related which required a three week stay in the hospital.  She became ill while in the hospital and had to have her gallbladder removed.  She still continues to suffer from respiratory difficulties as a result of her smoke inhalation injuries.  She has been unable to return to full-time service as a result of her injuries.

Sanchez sued Kavanaugh’s estate, claiming that the fire started because Kavanaugh was smoking in bed.  The estate trustees argued that Sanchez and her employer were both aware that Kavanaugh had a habit of smoking in bed, but they failed to prevent the fire.  The jury has now found the estate and Sanchez’s employer each 50% at fault in the fire.  The caretaker has been rewarded $903,000 in damages.

The litigation for a premises liability lawsuit can be challenging.  Not every accident that occurs on a private or public property will result in a premises liability claim.  There are certain conditions that must be met for a California premises liability lawyer to file a claim on your behalf.  Just because a person owns the property or a contractor has been hired to maintain the property does not automatically make either of them liable when another person suffers an accident on the property.  The owner, the manager, supervisor or occupier of the property can only be held liable if he or she fails to exercise reasonable care in keeping the property in a safe condition.

Determining whether the owner has exercised reasonable care in keeping the property safe is often left to a jury.  For example, the owner of the property has a duty to inspect the property and learn of any unsafe conditions.  Once he discovers the unsafe condition, the property owner has the duty to repair, replace or fix it, so that the property becomes safe to use.  For instance, a store owner who stacks merchandise too high can be held liable if the boxes of merchandise fall on an injured shopper.

However, visitors, customers, guests and other people on a property are not completely exempted from taking any care or precautions.  Visitors are expected to exercise reasonable care when they use the property.  It there is an unsafe condition on the property that is so obvious, that visitors may be expected to be aware of it, then the owner of the property may not necessarily have a duty to warn visitors of this unsafe condition.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of premise liability. Please visit our website at http://www.robertreeveslaw.com/. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us at contact@robertreeveslaw.com.

The Reeves Law Group is not representing any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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