Footstool in woman's path leads to lawsuit against Dillard's

A Washington Park woman has filed suit against Dillard's, claiming her right knee was injured after she tripped over a footstool.

Patsy Ann Reddick was shopping at the store in the St. Clair Mall on Sept. 3, 2007, and was making a purchase when she tripped, according to the complaint filed Oct. 24 in St. Clair County Circuit Court.

Reddick "was in the process of handing the cashier a credit card to pay for her purchases when she fell over a footstool near the cashier's counter," the suit states. "She had not seen the footstool before falling over it."

As a result of her trip, Reddick claims her right knee was bruised, contused, swollen, twisted, sprained and strained.

In addition, she suffered physical and mental pain from the injuries, was required to undergo surgery and incurred medical costs in excess of $25,000, according to the complaint.

She claims Dillard's was negligent because it placed a footstool in her path, failed to barricade the footstool, failed to warn of the existence of the footstool, failed to remove the footstool and placed the footstool in a place where customers were unlikely to see it.

In the two-count suit, Reddick seeks unspecified damages.

She is represented by David M. Duree of David M. Duree and Associates in O'Fallon.

St. Clair County Circuit Court case number: 08-L-543.