July - Senior Connector

PAGE 6
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SENIOR CONNECTOR
German choir visits Le Jeune Manor
BY ARLENE SHORSKY
A German choir brought
a European touch to residents
of Le Jeune Manor on
May 28. Doreen Haughton
played the piano and the 12
chorals gave a nice sound in
German.
The choir sang appropriate
pieces for the season.
Their first song was
“Spring,” commonly known
as the bird song, followed by
“The Spring is just
Coming,” “The Flute” and
“Now we have Flowers.”
They sang a medley of
hunting tunes near the end,
with “Goodbye and
Goodnight” as the closing
song.
John Nykyforchyn, on
behalf of the Knights of
Columbus and tenants,
thanked the group for coming
and for their fine performance.
Refreshments were compliments
of Wanda Bedard
and Olive Hews.
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• 24 hour Attendant
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BY BLAIR NIXON
Maria Clark came to Canada
from the Philippines in
1990. She became a
Canadian citizen in 1996. In
December, 1997, her husband
purchased a kiosk at
the food fair in the Ironwood
Mall in Campbell River.
Maria worked at her husband’s
business.
In July, 1998, one
evening after the mall was
closed to the public, Maria
and her husband were walking
in a mall corridor to
attend a merchant’s meeting.
She was familiar with
warning signs that were used
when the floor was being
washed in the mall. There
were none out that evening.
As she walked towards
the area where the meeting
was being held, she and her
husband crossed the tiled
area in the corridor.
Suddenly, she slipped and
fell and her husband heard a
“clunk” which he believed
was from her head hitting
the floor.
While Maria had not
noticed that the floor tile was
wet prior to her fall, an
employee of the firm,
Mustang Maintenance, had
just mopped that area of the
floor. Although the mall
owned yellow warning signs
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to alert patrons to wet floors,
they were not being used.
Ultimately, Maria brought
an action for damages
against the mall owner and
Mustang Maintenance. The
trial was heard in front of
Justice Taylor of the B.C.
Supreme Court.
Expert evidence from
both sides confirmed that at
the time of Maria’s fall, the
tiles would have been slippery.
Maria suffered from
very pronounced headaches
and as at the date of
trial, continued to experience
10 to 15 severe, sharp
headaches per day.
The medical evidence at
trial confirmed that the
headaches were permanent
and that she had suffered
some loss of intellectual
functioning as a result of her
fall.
Justice Taylor concluded
that Maria had slipped
because of the wet floor. He
further concluded that the
mall owner and Mustang
Maintenance had failed in
their duty to take reasonable
steps to inform Maria of the
risk that existed while the
floors were being washed.
The fall caused her significant
injuries that were
unlikely to improve.
Justice Taylor found both
JULY, 2003
Legal Ease
Slippery floors can lead to painful consequences
Defendants liable to Maria
for damages as a result of
the injuries sustained and
awarded her damages totalling
almost $160,000.
Maria’s fall and the significant
ongoing disruption
to her life could have easily
been avoided if the mall
owner and the maintenance
contractor had simply
ensured that the warning
signs which were available,
were used on the night in
question. This failure to
exercise reasonable care
resulted in the imposition
of the substantial damage
award against the
Defendants.
One can only hope, that
as a result of Maria’s lawsuit,
mall owners, maintenance
contractors and other
similar parties, will take
those extra precautions to
warn pedestrians of slippery
floors and other similar hazards.
Blair Nixon is a lawyer at
Nixon & Company and can
be reached in Kamloops
at 372-3233 or Merritt at
378-4966.
Visit him on-line at
www.nixonlawyers.com.
Happy
Birthday,
Mike!
From the
crew at
Senior
Connector
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Blair Nixon
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