Snowboarder Struck On Head By Security Gate At Lake Tahoe Ski Resort Suffers Brain Injury, Part 1 of 2

The following blog entry is written to illustrate how a brain injury lawsuit could develop and resolve. Reviewing this summary should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this brain injury lawsuit and its proceedings.)

FACTS/CONTENTIONS

According to Plaintiff: Plaintiff, a 33-year-old physical therapist, was living in Sacramento and was an avid snowboarder. She had a season pass for Snowstar (defendant ABC Land Company). On January 9, 2007, she finished snowboarding for the day around 3:00 p.m. She waited on the deck of Snowstar’s Mid-Mountain Lodge for a friend who was still snowboarding. Around 3:00 p.m., she moved inside because she was cold. She noticed heat vents in front of a retail counter. She sat down on the floor in front of the retail counter in a location where the counter worker could not see her.

At some point in the next five to twenty minutes, the counter worker closed a manual overhead security gate so he could do a register count and close for the day. He closed the gate from inside the counter and did not notice plaintiff. The gate struck plaintiff on top of her head. Ski patrol responded and plaintiff declined medical treatment. Her friend came and helped her back to her rental cabin. She drove herself back to San Francisco the next day.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Plaintiff alleged that ABC Land Company’s employee was negligent in how he closed the gate. ABC alleged that (1) it was not liable as a matter of law because plaintiff had signed a global liability release when she applied for her season pass, (2) plaintiff was responsible for any harm she suffered because she was sitting in an unexpected location, and (3) at the most she suffered a bruise on her head.

The court denied ABC’s motion for summary judgment on the release issue.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Contact Information