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MADISON - ST. CLAIR RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Refrozen melted snow turned to black ice and slip and fall

A woman has filed suit against the owners of a building where she claims she fell because of an accumulation of black ice in front of the building's entrance.

Marilyn Gilmer claims she was visiting defendant National Vision at 10840 Lincoln Trail in Fairview Height on Jan. 28, 2009, when the incident occurred.

"As plaintiff approached the entrance to the store, she slipped and fell on an icy surface which had accumulated in the area in front of the entrance, thereby sustaining serious and permanent injuries," the suit filed Jan. 25 in St. Clair County Circuit Court.

The accumulation of the black ice had happened overnight after snow had melted from the building's roof to the ground, then refroze after sundown and a drop in temperature, according to the complaint.
Because of her fall, Gilmer claims she suffered significant and permanent injuries.

National Vision and the building's owners -- America's Best Contacts and Eyeglasses and Bluma and Phillip Hirsch -- negligently failed to apply salt to melt the ice, failed to correct a design flaw that allowed snow on the roof to melt and leak in front of the entrance and failed to remove an unnatural accumulation of black ice, the complaint says.

In her three-count complaint, Gilmer is seeking compensatory damages, costs and other relief the court deems just.

She will be represented by Robert T. Healey and James F. Ram of The Swaney Law Firm in St. Louis.

St. Clair County Circuit Court case number: 11-L-38.

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