This blog post was created by slip and fall attorney Mark Yazdani. For more information, visit www.slipfall.ca

The Simon v. Strata Plan KAS2093 court decision was released by the British Columbia Supreme Court in Kamloops on October 17, 2007.

On the night of February 28, 2000, 67-year old Florence Simon was on her way to the Kamloops Public Library to take out some books to read. She parked her car and began walking towards the main entrance. It was dark and the sidewalks and road surface were wet. As she descended the stairs, she suddenly slipped and fell down the stairs.

Ms. Simon lay at the foot of the stairs unable to get up for some time. Finally, an ambulance was called and took her to Royal Inland Hospital where Ms. Simon was hospitalized for six days. As a result of the fall, the plaintiff broke her left hip and heel.  Her hip required surgery to repair. Her left leg has been left a quarter to a half-inch shorter resulting in a gait imbalance. She has been left with permanent left leg instability.

Ms. Simon hired a Kamloops injury lawyer and sued the City of Kamloops (among other defendants) for negligence which caused her slip and fall.

At trial, Ms. Simon argued that the library stairs were not safe because they did not adequately demarcate the stairs and there was not sufficient contrast on the stairs when they are wet and it is dark, and as a result, she was unable to see how many stairs there were for her to navigate.

The defendant argued that they complied with the B.C. Building Code and therefore were not negligent. They also argued that Ms. Simon was walking in a hurry that the fall was a result of her own inattention – not the result of unmarked stairs.

The court noted that the City of Kamloops had an obligation to provide, especially for night-time access, reasonable safety for users of the stairs. Earlier concerns were raised and conveyed to the City representatives of the need for contrasting colours on the stairs and yellow-nosed case striping. The cost to rectify this was minimal. The court found that by failing to properly mark the stairs, the defendants were negligent.

However, Ms. Simon was held to be 50% responsible for the slip and fall. The court noted that she went down the stairs too quickly. As a result, she overstepped and missed the last step causing her to lose her balance. The court found that had she paid more attention, she might not have slipped or at least held back her stumble.

As a result, the court assessed and awarded the following damages to Ms. Simon (at 50%):

• $100,000 for pain and suffering
• $26,040 for past lost income
• $40,000 for future lost income
• $615 for special damages
• $23,687 for future care costs

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