North Carolina Lawyers Weekly
A woman who broke her ankle as she scrambled to get out of the way of an inflatable movie screen that began falling toward her and her children has confidentially settled a lawsuit with the owner of the park where the movie was being screened for $200,000, her attorney reports.
Thorp
Isaac Thorp of Raleigh reports that his client, whose name was withheld pursuant to a confidentiality agreement, was watching an outdoor screening of the “Lion King” in July 2018 in a park that is maintained by a private entity. She was lying in the grass a few feet away from the 20-foot-tall screen when it began to tip toward her and her two children. When she stood up to get out of its way, she felt her ankle pop and fell to the ground.
Park workers caught the screen after it tipped about 15 degrees forward. It was tethered by six ropes and did not injure anyone.
The woman had surgery that included the installation of hardware in her ankle, Thorp said. She missed about four months of work, but has since returned to work full-time as a customer account representative. Her lost income and admissible medical expenses totaled about $40,000. While the surgery was successful, she has continuous residual ankle pain, Thorp said.
The park at first denied liability, claiming that there had never been any problems before, and the incident had been caused by an unforeseeable freak gust of wind. But Thorp said that he found a park worker who told him that the “blimp screen” had been unstable on several occasions and at one point, he and his co-workers were told to sit on the back of the its base to keep it stable.
Moreover, Thorp said that a sign on the movie screen clearly stated that the base of the screen must be tethered at all its base points, but it was not. The notice also said that there was to be a 25-foot buffer zone between the screen and viewers.
“They developed procedures they were supposed to follow, and they didn’t even follow them,” Thorp said.
Due to a confidentiality agreement, other details about the settlement, including the identities of the defendants and their attorneys, were not disclosed.
Follow Bill Cresenzo on Twitter @bcresenzonclw
SETTLEMENT REPORT — PREMISES LIABILITY
Amount: $200,000
Injuries alleged: Broken ankle
Case name: Withheld
Court: Withheld
Case number.: Withheld
Mediator: Jackie Clare of Raleigh
Date of settlement: November 2019
Most helpful expert: Matthew Sams of Accident Research Specialists in Cary (engineering)
Attorney for plaintiff: Isaac Thorp of Raleigh
Attorney for defendant: Withheld
