Recently in Slip and Fall Category

The 2009 Johnny Depp movie "Public Enemies" chronicles the life of notorious gangster John Dillinger, as IMBD explains, focusing on the federal government's attempt to take them down during the tumultuous 1930s. The film was shot in Chicago's North Side by NBC Universal.

What was also tumultuous (besides the time period the movie was set in) was a slip and fall that occurred on set.

As part of the set, the producers covered North Lincoln Ave. with a fake cobblestone cover made of a foam-like substance. The plaintiff was not part of the film crew or an extra but said he and other pedestrians were allowed to walk across the set one day after shooting.

John McManus claims he wasn't warned about the surface and subsequently fell, causing injury. He claims his foot sank into the surface and then got stuck under a fake trolley rail. 

Who among us hasn't at one time or another stood in awe of a perfect pyramid of fresh golden apples or glowing tangerines while strolling down a supermarket aisle? My personal favorites are the bright purple eggplants that show up in late summer. 

Usually the floors of the produce section are relatively clean but allegedly that wasn't the case for Halina Dymora, who is suing Jewel Food Stores Inc. in a slip and fall legal action, Chicago Now's Chicago Bar-Tender reports. 

It wasn't a banana peel or a puddle of tomato juice she allegedly fell on, but a piece of wood. She didn't see it because she allegedly was transfixed by the store's lovely fruits and vegetables: 

Plaintiff was unaware of the presence of the piece of wood as her attention was directed at the vegetables in front of her.

Cook County jail inmate Ricky Robinson claims that he slipped and fell on water from his overflowing toilet, according to the complaint prepared by Chicago injury lawyer Fred I. Benjamin.

Does this sound familiar?

Mr. Robinson may be in good (or should we say bad?) company since prisoners have been accused of intentionally flooding jail cells by plugging up the toilet for years now. According to the Oakland Tribune, the goal of most inmates is usually to "cause a ruckus." While it could be to cause a ruckus, it typically costs taxpayer money in order to fix the problem.

It's possible that Cookie the horse just had a bad day, but Michelle Welty believes the equestrian center is to blame for injuries she sustained after Cookie threw Welty from her mount (Chicago Bar-Tender).

The incident happened on July 3, 2009. Welty was an inexperienced rider at the time and notified Forest View Farms personnel of that fact, the complaint states. But she claims they assigned her a "difficult" horse, nevertheless.

That mysterious, buttery substance pumped from large cylinders onto your $8 bucket of movie theater popcorn may not be real butter. But it's just as slick, at least according to a lawsuit filed by Sonya Williams, who says unsafe conditions at the River Oaks 6 Movie Theater caused her to "fall on butter on the floor in the walk-way" (Chicago Bar-Tender).

Personally, I've yet to patronize a movie theater with clean floors, but usually I find them sticky with spilled soda and bubble gum. The butter (or whatever it is) usually stays on the popcorn.

The nine-count complaint alleges that her slip and fall accident was the result of negligence among the nine different corporations, partnerships and holding companies that have at least some financial stake in the theater. 

As Chicago remains blanketed by thick snow, pedestrians on the city's sidewalks often find themselves navigating drifts and neglected patches. Often the entrances to shops, apartments and other buildings are even more treacherous with ice and standing water.

But despite a decades-long ordinance mandating that Chicago residents and business owners clear the sidewalks and areas in front of their entrance-ways, Mayor Daley said the city won't be enforcing it (Tribune).

Most slip and fall injury lawsuits are filed by patrons, neighbors or visitors claiming their host (be it a restaurant or some guy down the street) failed to properly maintain their premises. If you slip and fall and break your neck on an oil slick that Jiffy Lube failed to clean up, for example, a lawsuit against the company is routine. 

Very rarely do people sue for injuries sustained in their own home. But that's just what happened when Emilia Alcala tripped and suffered serious injuries (DocStoc) to her right foot and ankle.

The culprit, she claims, is not her own clumsiness but the negligence of DirecTV Inc. affiliate Unitek USA.

All we know from the complaint (DocStoc) is that about two years ago, a "foreign substance" on the floor of a Washington Mutual Bank branch on West Morse Ave. caused Rose Marie Moreno to slip and fall. Her injuries from the fall allegedly led to her death two days later.

Her surviving daughter Tabatha is the named plaintiff in the lawsuit against WaMu (along with parent company JP Morgan Chase and others) for wrongful death and survival linked to premises liability.

All we know from the complaint (DocStoc) is that about two years ago, a "foreign substance" on the floor of a Washington Mutual Bank branch on West Morse Ave. caused Rose Marie Moreno to slip and fall. Her injuries from the fall allegedly led to her death two days later.

Her surviving daughter Tabatha is the named plaintiff in the lawsuit against WaMu (along with parent company JP Morgan Chase and others) for wrongful death and survival linked to premises liability.

Okay, I don't like to make a habit of poking fun at the misfortunes of others -- but sometimes scanning the day's raft of personal injury lawsuits fills me with a certain schadenfreude.

Which brings me to a legal action filed by professional wrestler Gregory Lee, who is suing a number of defendants for failing to provide a safe pathway from the ring, where I can only assume he engaged in extremely unsafe maneuvers and sustained a combination of both superficial and chronic injuries.