$175,000 Recovered in Premises Liability Case

$175,000 recovered for a client who fell down an entire flight of stairs at a Los Angeles Metro station due to poor lighting conditions. Our investigation revealed that the automatic lighting sensors near the stairwell were defective and failed to activate, leaving the area inadequately lit during early evening hours. As a result, our client fell and suffered a torn rotator cuff, a serious injury that was clearly captured on surveillance footage.

A key piece of evidence in this case was the deposition of Winston Dixon, the designated person most knowledgeable on behalf of Los Angeles Metro, which confirmed the malfunctioning lighting system and helped establish liability.

A torn rotator cuff is a serious shoulder injury involving one or more of the tendons that stabilize and move the shoulder joint. These injuries are often caused by sudden trauma, such as bracing during a fall, and can lead to long-term pain, weakness, and loss of mobility.

In this case, our client fell down a full flight of stairs at a Los Angeles Metro station due to inadequate lighting caused by malfunctioning motion-activated sensors. As he attempted to catch himself during the fall, the forceful impact led to a torn rotator cuff, a diagnosis later confirmed through imaging and medical evaluation.

This type of injury is not only painful but functionally limiting, often requiring extensive physical therapy and, in some cases, surgical intervention. It had a profound impact on our client’s daily life and ability to work. The Metro’s failure to maintain a reasonably safe premises by allowing a known lighting system defect to persist, created the hazardous condition that directly led to this injury.

By establishing clear causation between the defective lighting, the fall, and the resulting shoulder injury, we were able to hold Metro accountable under California premises liability law.