On December 5, 2018, a Pulaski County jury awarded $3 million to a woman who lost her right toe while on an escalator at Little Rock mall in Arkansas during a Christmas shopping trip in 2013.
The woman, who is a medical student, did not file the lawsuit until 2014. According to her attorney, on December 10, 2013, the woman's booted foot got lodged between the escalator steps at the Little Rock Shopping center and her toe was crushed and shredded as her foot was pulled into the moving staircase. The mall and the escalator manufacturer, Kone Inc. admitted negligent conduct for her lost toe ahead of the trial and allowed the jury headed by Circuit Judge Chris Piazza to decide on the damages. After two hours of deliberation, the jurors agreed that the woman was eligible to receive $3 million for her past and future medical expenses, loss of pay, pain, suffering, and disfigurement.
The woman underwent two surgeries amounting to six months of recovery, and her lawyer claimed her medical career is at stake as she is still recovering. The woman's attorney stated, “we still don't know if she is going to meet the physical requirements of completing her rotations, because they require long hours on your feet."
Costa Crociere S.P.A. Company, the owner of the cruise ship MS Costa Luminosa, was ordered by a federal jury in Florida to pay a little over a million to the plaintiff for negligence. In 2014, the plaintiff tripped and fell on a cleaning bucket aboard the cruise ship injuring her left arm and shoulder. The lawsuit demanded claims for a displaced proximal humerus fracture of her left non-dominant arm, a dislocated humerus head, torn left rotator cuff, and torn the left bicep tendon. Further, compensation included failure to properly maintain the ship in a reasonably safe condition, for the ongoing pain and difficulty in performing daily tasks, such as household chores.
The plaintiff had to undergo open reduction surgery, arthroscopic surgery, and have sutures to repair her condition, which further required six months of physical therapy. A strong safety expert opinion from the plaintiff's end pointed a violation of cruise ship industry standards and failure to provide warning signs of any buckets left in areas where passengers walk.
