Nicholas Rowley
A Florida Panhandle jury declined to give a woman who fractured her ankle outside a vacation retreat’s parking garage a multimillion-dollar damages award in a verdict that was a victory for defendant Destin West Beach and Bay Resort.
Okaloosa County jurors in the First Judicial Circuit of Florida reached their decision on June 26, rejecting plaintiff Emily Webre’s request for a damages award of $13.75 million to $17.87 million as a result of a leg injury she suffered from a trip and fall at the resort on Oct. 17, 2021.
In the three-day trial’s opening and closing statements, the defense offered three reasons for the jury to return a defense verdict. Webre fell not because she tripped at a location where a handicap access ramp and walkway had a height differential that violated the state’s Building Code, but because her sandals became tangled, as the plaintiff allegedly told personnel where she obtained emergency medical treatment, the defense argued.
The resort’s legal team also said jurors could find that the plaintiff was intoxicated at the time of the injury, since two of her friends testified Webre had been drinking earlier in the day. The plaintiff, however, denied she was intoxicated.
In addition, the defense pointed to testimony that there were no reports of falls or accidents at the location outside the parking garage for at least three years prior to Webre’s injury. The defense team indicated that a building code violation is not necessarily proof of negligence and that the raised step was not unreasonably hazardous.
The plaintiff’s attorney, Nicholas Rowley of Trial Lawyers for Justice, said that while he was disappointed with the outcome of the case, he respected the jury’s decision and the work of the defense lawyers and judge.
“Emily (Webre) is the daughter of a longtime friend of mine who is a trial lawyer in Louisiana,” Rowley told the Florida Record in an email. “They are good people who I trust and believe in, and I do believe that Emily did trip over the defect in the walkway, which was in fact a building code violation.”
But he said the facts of the case made it a difficult one.
“Hospital medical records by three separate medical providers stated that Emily tripped over her own sandals, and two of her friends testified that she was intoxicated and one testified that Emily said that she did not know what she tripped on,” Rowley said. “The insurance company left us no choice but to try the case. …”
Court documents filed by the plaintiff’s legal team argued the resort was negligent for having a walkway that was not compliant with building codes.
“This negligence led to the plaintiff’s tripping and falling,” Webre’s counsel argued. “Plaintiff suffered a compound fracture to her ankle, requiring surgery and the implantation of hardware to correct.”
Medical testimony presented by the plaintiff also suggested Webre would likely have to have a future ankle-fusion surgery.
During the course of the litigation, the defense acquired witness testimony that discussed the plaintiff’s drinking habits outside of the date of the accident, which plaintiff’s counsel suggested was prejudicial and not relevant to the legal dispute.
“... I went to, you know, Thailand with (Webre), house parties with her, and she was not only a lightweight but she was a sloppy drunk, where once she felt warm and fuzzy inside, you know, she's, like, not getting back up from the couch,” one fact witness said in a deposition. “Like, it would have been easy for her to not make it out of the parking garage if she was drunk.”
The plaintiff alleged that her injury led to a condition of premature arthritis that would create long-term mobility issues.
