The following blog post was prepared by Toronto slip and fall lawyer Mark Yazdani. For more information about slip and fall lawsuits, see his law firm website: www.slipfall.ca.

The Degennaro v. Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital court decision was released by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on July 2, 2009

On May 19, 1999, Diane Degennaro two-year old son became ill with flu-like symptoms. She took her son to the hospital at 1:15 a.m. that evening and they were admitted into a hospital room. Ms. Degennaro wanted to phone her husband and sat on a hospital bed near to a telephone. Suddenly, the end of the bad collapsed and she fell heavily on the floor landing on her buttocks and lower back. She felt terrible pain and a nurse in the room helped her up and sat her on the bed. She stayed the night at the hospital with her son and her son was discharged after three days.

Ms. Degennaro continued to experience severe pain after her accident. She returned to the hospital on May 31, 1999 and was diagnosed with a fractured sacrum.

During the month of June, 1999 she was only able to walk slowly and movement caused shooting pain in her legs and back. Ongoing problems caused to stop working as a customer service agent in May 28, 2001. She also developed depression. In July 2003, after a failed return to work, Ms. Degennaro was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. From 2003 to the date of trial in March 2009 her symptoms did not improve.

Ms. Degennaro hired Toronto personal injury lawyers and started a lawsuit against the hospital as a result of the injuries she experienced as a result of her fall at the accident.

At trial, Ms. Degennaro’s lawyers argued that the hospital was liable under the Occupiers Liability Act and had a responsibility to ensure that Ms. Degennaro was reasonably safe while on the premises. The defence argued that her physical problems did not result from the fall but rather was as a result of a motor vehicle accident that she was involved in February 2002.

After reviewing all the evidence, the court found that the hospital was obligated to take reasonable care that Ms. Degennaro would not injure herself as a result of a dangerous condition in the hospital room – specifically, they were under a duty to ensure that the bed would not pose a danger to her. The hospital knew that the bed could collapse if a person sat one end of it. The court found that at the very least the hospital should have warned Ms. Degennaro about the condition of the bed so that she could take precautions. Applying the “but for” test, the court found that “but for” the slip fall accident, Ms. Degennaro would not have developed chronic pain syndrome.

Thus, the court awarded Ms. Degennaro the following damages:

• $116,120.45 – expenses to the date of trial
• $308,100 – past loss of income
• $793,900 – future loss of income
• $1,679,410 – future loss of income
• $115,000 – paid to Ms. Degennaro’s husband and children for loss of guidance, care and companionship

Do you have a similar case? We can find you a top slip and fall accident lawyer in your area.