Court dismisses service customer slip-and-fall suit

A service customer who fell during a rainy-day visit to a Chevrolet dealership in Louisiana can’t pursue his personal injury lawsuit, the state Court of Appeal ruled.

Charles Hamner visited Ray Chevrolet in Abbeville, La., for service on his Tahoe in February 2014. According to the court decision, when Hamner got out of the vehicle in the service area, he slipped, fell backward, hit his head on the running board and lost consciousness.  

The court cited testimony from two dealership service managers that there were 24-inch-high yellow floor signs in the service area that day warning of wet floors. Two months before the mishap, the store spent more than $13,000 to resurface the floor of the service area with a nonslip epoxy coating embedded with grit, according to legal documents.

Hamner failed to show “an unreasonable risk of harm,” the court said, noting his statement that the floor was wet because rainwater dripped off the Tahoe when he pulled in. It said Ray Chevrolet couldn’t have discovered any hazardous condition before Hamner fell “if the rainwater was brought into the service area with his vehicle.”

The lesson for service departments is the importance of having “cones and warnings in place when there is any possibility of rainy weather and possibly at all times since the air conditioners on cars almost all of the time drip water,” said James Ryan III, a lawyer for the dealership.

“It helped that the dealership had recently resurfaced the drive in an area with warning cones,” Ryan added.

Hamner’s lawyer, David Lefeve, said his client may pursue a further appeal.

A 2015 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon that was modified with a lift kit isn’t covered by a service contract for a dealership’s allegedly faulty transmission repairs, the British Columbia Civil Resolution Tribunal ruled.

The modification by owner Joely Fulcher voided a powertrain warranty underwritten by Millennium Insurance Corp., tribunal member Shelley Lopez held. Fulcher claimed Foundation Squamish Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Squamish, British Columbia, improperly serviced the vehicle in May 2016 and again in June 2018, the ruling said.

The dealership and insurer countered that adding the lift voided the policy. A lift kit “can adversely impact the transmission as it changes the angle of the drive shaft. Due to the steeper angle, it can cause different types of wear inside the transmission,” they said.

Millennium also said the axle stub shaft and transmission coupler the shaft fits into “were stripped out” and rusted, causing the steel to “deteriorate that in turn caused the splines to deteriorate and strip.” The policy excluded coverage for the rust that caused the damage, the insurer said.

Siding with Foundation and Millennium, Lopez said: “The evidence shows that for the 2018 transmission repair, there were multiple reasons why coverage was not available,” including Fulcher’s failure to have a transmission fluid and filter change done at a required interval.  

Fulcher had sought $2,000 in damages, $241 for reimbursement of rental car charges and a refund of the warranty cost.

Ford Motor Co. must defend a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by survivors of a service technician at a Harahan, La., dealership who contracted peritoneal mesothelioma allegedly from working in the late 1960s on engines and brakes that included asbestos, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance rejected Ford’s request to dismiss the suit brought by Victor Michel, a former mechanic and generator service technician at Crescent Ford Truck Sales. His responsibilities included changing brakes and clutches and overhauling engines, the suit says.

Michel’s family continued the suit after he died last year. Claims against other defendants have been settled or dismissed.

Michel did not receive workers’ compensation benefits related to asbestos exposure, said Roshawn Donahue, a lawyer for the family in New Orleans.

Vance’s decision allows Michel’s family to proceed with the effort to hold Ford liable on the legal theory that the automaker controlled the facility where Michel worked, as well as the theory of product liability. She rejected claims based on the assertion that Ford was Michel’s employer.

Donahue said a trial is scheduled for April, and “the Michel family is looking forward to their day in court, and wish their father was alive to tell his side of the story.” A Ford spokeswoman said the automaker doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

The insurance company for a Canadian Acura dealership’s courtesy vehicle must defend a lawsuit arising from an accident caused by the driver of a loaner that hit a skateboarder, a judge in Alberta ruled.

That decision is being appealed, according to Edmonton lawyer Peter Gibson, who represents Tokio Marine & Nichido Insurance Co., which insured the loaner.

The dispute arose after Gurpreet Sran drove a friend’s vehicle to Northwest Acura in Calgary for service.

After Sran signed a one-page agreement, the dealership gave her a loaner owned by Honda Canada Finance and leased by Honda Canada, which in turn had leased it to Northwest Acura, the court decision said.

Tokio Marine & Nichido unsuccessfully argued that the insurer for Sran’s friend’s vehicle, Security National Insurance, must defend the personal injury suit.

Justice George Fraser said the dealership had no obligation to provide a loaner, and the fact that Sran’s friend gave her permission to drive his vehicle wasn’t the same as authorizing her to drive the loaner.

A lawyer for Security National Insurance, Michelle Grose of Edmonton, said her client did not want to comment on the case.