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Civil Plaintiff

Tenant Sues Landlord after Being Severely Injured due to Property Failing Inspection and Was Awarded $13 Million

Thomas James Wuori, of Ringsmuth Wuori PLLC, represented a plaintiff that was 8 months into her lease when she was inside the garage, sweeping for a birthday party, when kids on the outside lifted the manual garage door. The door was lifted up but it then continued onto the tracks and out the back, off the rails, and panels went out the back and down, striking plaintiff on her head, causing neck injuries. After conservative treatment (physical therapy, injections, etc.), the Plaintiff ended up with a C5-C6 fusion surgery, which was not as successful as hoped, and she still is suffering from consequential pain/limitations/permanent injuries (she is now late 40s).

Landlord bought the house out of foreclosure in “as is” condition. Did no inspection other than cursory and began renting it out quickly to the plaintiff and a co-tenant. The landlord knows the city does a cursory inspection after a rental is registered and relies upon this cursory inspection. The inspection was not done until over 100 days into a rental, and that 30-minute city inspection identified 7 violations, including a rotting/missing set of toe plates next to the garage door. The plaintiff’s non-retained but qualified garage door installers who saw the garage weeks after the injury testified that the toe plates are red-flag notices to garage door safety, and then identified multiple other problems with the garage door.

The jury awarded past economic/non-economic losses and future non-economic/economic, combined total of $13,426,000.00.

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