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Parker v. Casa Del Ray - Rapid City2/27/2002
Appeal from the Circuit Court of The Seventh Judicial Circuit Pennington County, South Dakota Hon. Jeff W. Davis, Judge.
Argued on October 1, 2001
[ .] Richard Parker was injured while making a delivery from his truck to Casa del Rey in Rapid City, South Dakota. A jury awarded Parker $290,000 for his damages resulting from the fall. Casa del Rey appeals. We affirm.
FACTS
[ .] On December 21, 1995, Parker, an experienced truck driver, was making deliveries for Nobel/Sysco Company. As he progressed into his route, Parker stopped at Casa del Rey between 9 and 10 a.m. Parker backed his truck trailer up near the unloading dock behind the restaurant and parked so that a gap was left between the trailer and the dock. There is conflicting testimony of whether the gap was 10-12 inches or 12-18 inches. In addition, the truck trailer was a bit higher than the unloading dock, creating a step down onto the dock.
[ .] After parking, Parker got out of his truck and crossed the parking lot to the steps of the unloading dock. Parker was aware that a light snow had fallen during the previous night. Additionally, he had noticed grease present on the dock during prior deliveries. Parker alleges the snow had made the greasy film on the steps "different" than he was used to, but proceeded up the steps and across the dock anyway because he did not believe the condition of the area was dangerous. He stepped off the dock into his trailer where he used a two-wheeled cart to haul five or six boxes of chips, which were stacked taller than he was, and pushed the cart out of the truck onto the dock. As he did, his foot slipped from beneath him just as he stepped over the gap between the truck trailer and the unloading dock. He fell and became wedged in the gap between the truck trailer and the dock. Parker suffered physical injuries from the fall, including a herniated disk in his back, which required surgery and resulted in medical bills. He also incurred educational costs in order to obtain less strenuous employment since he was no longer physically able to drive truck.
[ .] At trial, Casa del Rey claimed that no grease was present on the steps on the day Parker fell. The manager of Casa del Rey, Robert Krebsbach, testified that his employees rarely spilled grease on the dock as they were removing it from the restaurant and carrying it outside to a receptacle. If they did, however, Krebsbach explained that it was restaurant policy to use a heavy-duty degreaser to clean up such spills. Casa del Rey also argued that Parker was contributorily negligent in the way he parked and unloaded the truck and that he had assumed the risk of injury. A jury found in favor of Parker and awarded him $290,000 in damages. Casa del Rey appeals the following issues:
1) Whether the evidence was sufficient to establish negligence.
2) Whether Parker was contributorily negligent and assumed the risk as a matter of law.
3) Whether the trial court correctly instructed the jury as to the law governing the case.
4) Whether the trial court should have allowed the admission of evidence regarding a previous fall at Casa del Rey.
5) Whether the trial court should have allowed evidence of the feasibility of safer equipment provided by Parker's employer to be presented at trial.
6) Whether the trial court properly admitted a photograph of the premises into evidence.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
[ .] Casa del Rey's claim that the evidence was insufficient to establish negligence is reviewed "in the light most favorable to upholding the verdict." See Engberg v. Ford Motor Co., 87 SD 196, 201, 2
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 South Dakota Personal Injury Attorneys
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