A woman’s lawsuit alleging she tripped on a rug and fell is at trial in Madison County Circuit Judge William Mudge’s courtroom.
The trial began Oct. 9.
Plaintiff Debra Agee is represented at trial by Brian Wendler, Angie Zinzilieta and Paul E H Rademacher of Wendler Law PC in Edwardsville.
Defendant Earl Modesto is represented by Dayna Johnson and Donald K Schoemaker of Greensfelder Hemker & Gale PC in Belleville.
Agee filed her two-count complaint on Feb. 14, 2017.
In her complaint, Agee claims she was at the defendant’s property on Dec. 6, 2016, when she allegedly slipped and fell in the hallway and stairway area when a rug or runner moved underneath her feet. She alleges the rug or runner had no traction device to keep it from moving.
She claims it was reasonably foreseeable to the defendant that people would be traveling in the area where the rug or runner was located.
Agee alleges Modesto failed to provide a reasonably safe walkway surface in the hallway and stairway areas, failed to provide adequate lighting in the hallway and stairway areas and failed to warn of dangerous conditions.
As a result, Agee alleges she sustained severe and permanent injuries to her left elbow, collarbone, right wrist, face and related areas.
Modesto answered the complaint on March 28, 2017, denying liability.
In his affirmative defenses, the defendant argues that the plaintiff had a responsibility to watch out for her own safety.
Modesto alleges Agee contributed to her own alleged injuries by “failing to exercise due care in watching where she was walking and failing to become aware of her surroundings.”
Madison County Circuit Court case number 17-L-235