QUESTION

Do I have a case here? Elderly mother slipped on urine in disgusting public rest room, forced to lay in urine for 40 minutes because staff had no key

Asked on Dec 02nd, 2021 on Slip and Fall - New York
More details to this question:
One week ago, on our way out of town for Thanksgiving, we stopped at a Sunoco gas station when my elderly mother suffering from cancer had to use the bathroom. The bathroom was in unacceptable condition with puddles of urine on the floor. She slipped in the urine, fell, hit her head on the urinal, and was unable to stand up. When I ran to the gas station employee to get a key, they informed me that the key to the bathroom was lost "long ago". No way to enter the bathroom. My mother laid for 35-40 minutes in the urine, soaking her clothing with it. When we finally got into the room, she complained of ankle pain, and could not stand on her own for about 20 minutes. There was a red area on her forehead which is probably where it made contact with urinal. There are no long term injuries that we can tell, and we unfortunately did not contact authorities or seek medical treatment at the time due to being out of town and her refusal to do so. She is emotionally traumatized over this.
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1 ANSWER

Automobile Accidents Attorney serving New York, NY
4 Awards
Mr. Myers, so sorry to hear what happened to your mother. Whether your mother has a case will depend on whether the gas station had notice of the urine on which she slipped, i.e. that it either knew about it or, in the exercise of reasoanble care, should known about it and failed to clean it up.  Unfortunately, unless your mother suffered a serious, permanent injury, the indignity of sitting in a puddle of urine for 30-40 minutes might not justify the time and expense of a lawsuit.  You'd be better off reporting the incident to the gas station's owner and/or Sunoco corporate and see if they might be willing to compensate your mother for what she went through. Best regards, Jonathan R. Ratchik, Esq. Kramer, Dunleavy & Ratchik, PLLC 61 Broadway, Suite 2220 New York, NY  10006 (212) 226-6662 www.kdrpilawyers.com
Answered on Dec 06th, 2021 at 7:52 AM

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