This blog post was created by Toronto slip and fall lawyer Mark Yazdani. Visit Mark’s slip and fall information site: www.slipfall.ca

The Singer v. Hamilton (City) court decision was released by the Ontario Superior Court on November 5, 2007.

On September 9, 1999, Margaret Singer, then age 78, had been working at her shop in Effort Square when she decided to go to buy some candles at a nearby store. There was construction in the area as the City of Hamilton was installing conduits for electrical cables. As she was walking, she suddenly fell into a deep trench, fracturing her right femur badly.

Ms. Singer stayed one week at Hamilton General Hospital and was then transferred to the Henderson General Hospital for rehabilitation, where she remained for two weeks. Later she attempted suicide because of the combination of her grieving the loss of her husband and the fracture of her leg, which caused her pain and immobility. She also suffered a major depressive episode which she alleged was triggered by the fracture.

Ms. Singer hired Hamilton injury lawyers and sued the City of Hamilton for negligence and damages arising from her fall.

At trial, the defendants argued that they should not be liable because they had placed barricades around the construction area. However, the court found that when Ms. Singer entered the construction site, “there was nothing there to guide her in a clear and positive manner, by adequate signs, markers, pavement markings or by traffic control persons.” The court found that it would have been reasonable to have placed a tiger barrel at the southerly end of the most westerly barricade in order to block Margaret’s entry into the construction site.

The court also noted that there was no sign on the barricades warning pedestrians of danger or advising all pedestrians that access beyond those barricades was strictly prohibited. Finally, the court described the construction site as disorderly, substandard, and hazardous from a pedestrian safety perspective.

As a result, the court awarded Ms. Singer the following damages:

• $65,000 – General Damages for pain and suffering and her scar
• $45,000 – Psychiatric Injuries
• $3000 – To her son and grandchildren

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