Calgary woman suing Safeway for over $1 million after being knocked out by door

SLM

The Velvet Hammer
Mar 5, 2011
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So a bump on the nogin is worth a million dollars? What is the lawyer's cut?

An ABI is a complicated thing, and the effects upon your life can be really far reaching. Now, is a supermarket automatic door opener enough to cause that much injury? Mmm, possibly. I've seen them when they open like a regular swing door and they've been up too high (or whatever) and slam open. They're heavy and forceful. So if that happened and it also knocked her back down onto a concrete floor where she hit her head? I could see serious long lasting injury coming out of that to be honest. Now it remains to be seen how bad the accident really was of course. But I've had those doors hit me on the arm or shoulder before (usually when slow moving people don't get out of your way fast enough-why do people enter a room or building and just come to a dead stop anyway? Argh!) and it left a substantial bruise.
 

captain morgan

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An ABI is a complicated thing, and the effects upon your life can be really far reaching. Now, is a supermarket automatic door opener enough to cause that much injury? Mmm, possibly. I've seen them when they open like a regular swing door and they've been up too high (or whatever) and slam open. They're heavy and forceful. So if that happened and it also knocked her back down onto a concrete floor where she hit her head? I could see serious long lasting injury coming out of that to be honest. Now it remains to be seen how bad the accident really was of course. But I've had those doors hit me on the arm or shoulder before (usually when slow moving people don't get out of your way fast enough-why do people enter a room or building and just come to a dead stop anyway? Argh!) and it left a substantial bruise.


Any pre-existing conditions?

Seems to me that she is asking a lot for loss of income and future income. There is a set formula to calculate this kind of thing. Similarly, the loss of income(s) claim based on inability to work may exempt her from receiving any support from programs like long-term disability. The message being, she might be screwing herself in the long run

I'll wager that Safeway has cc cameras throughout the store and when analyzed, will have a pretty large impact on her court case.

Expect her lawyer to rush to settle long before it hits an actual court
 

JLM

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I would expect that she and her lawyer should share the proceeds....................................jail.
 

IdRatherBeSkiing

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I would expect that she and her lawyer should share the proceeds....................................jail.

Why? If the claim is found to be invalid, it will be thrown out. If this was her 10th such case, then maybe there would be a pattern. If they don't find the damages worth $1 million, they will give her less. There is a good chance Safeway may be at least partially responsible and they should pay for that part (or their insurance pay). I would also hope this would encourage them to fix the door and address any other faulty doors to avoid this in the future. But to throw people in jail for suing somebody?
 

SLM

The Velvet Hammer
Mar 5, 2011
29,151
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London, Ontario
Any pre-existing conditions?

Seems to me that she is asking a lot for loss of income and future income. There is a set formula to calculate this kind of thing. Similarly, the loss of income(s) claim based on inability to work may exempt her from receiving any support from programs like long-term disability. The message being, she might be screwing herself in the long run

I'll wager that Safeway has cc cameras throughout the store and when analyzed, will have a pretty large impact on her court case.

Expect her lawyer to rush to settle long before it hits an actual court

I have no idea, I only have the article to go by too. But from what I've seen, and I've worked in a retail store before, from accidents that can and have happened in those kind of settings, I can truly see a legitimate injury resulting from what is described as having happened.

What will happen on the court side of things, I wouldn't even hazard a guess.
 

Dixie Cup

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Sep 16, 2006
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I know there's no comparison, but I was in an auto accident 30 years ago and suffered from "Moderate - severe" whiplash. Being in Alberta at the time, whiplash wasn't (and still isn't) considered a serious injury, (not sure about other provinces). The accident wasn't my fault (someone went through a stop sign) and my settlement was a whole $2500.00. Since then, I have suffered from debilitating migraine headaches (which I had never experienced before in my life) and now have severe arthritis in my neck and shoulders. I require regular treatment to mitigate any discomfort and the cost, (both in terms of health care and out of pocket expenses) has far outweighed any settlement I received. The thinking was (and still is, I believe) that whiplash is a soft tissue injury and is, therefore, not serious.


The bottom line is that no one can predict how injuries will affect you in the future and this lady may have injuries that will not only last a lifetime but may affect her ability to earn an income and also result in her requiring assistance at some point in the future. It'll be interesting though to see what happens.


JMO
 

IdRatherBeSkiing

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I know there's no comparison, but I was in an auto accident 30 years ago and suffered from "Moderate - severe" whiplash. Being in Alberta at the time, whiplash wasn't (and still isn't) considered a serious injury, (not sure about other provinces). The accident wasn't my fault (someone went through a stop sign) and my settlement was a whole $2500.00. Since then, I have suffered from debilitating migraine headaches (which I had never experienced before in my life) and now have severe arthritis in my neck and shoulders. I require regular treatment to mitigate any discomfort and the cost, (both in terms of health care and out of pocket expenses) has far outweighed any settlement I received. The thinking was (and still is, I believe) that whiplash is a soft tissue injury and is, therefore, not serious.


The bottom line is that no one can predict how injuries will affect you in the future and this lady may have injuries that will not only last a lifetime but may affect her ability to earn an income and also result in her requiring assistance at some point in the future. It'll be interesting though to see what happens.


JMO

Whiplash is a serious injury. My wife has simular issues from her crash in 2007. Issue is that so many people fake whiplash it has become a laughing stock injury while those who do have it suffer from it and have a stigma attached to them that they are just after the money.
 

JLM

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Why? If the claim is found to be invalid, it will be thrown out. If this was her 10th such case, then maybe there would be a pattern. If they don't find the damages worth $1 million, they will give her less. There is a good chance Safeway may be at least partially responsible and they should pay for that part (or their insurance pay). I would also hope this would encourage them to fix the door and address any other faulty doors to avoid this in the future. But to throw people in jail for suing somebody?


Thought I might get a rise out of that! I was going to add the words "if appropriate" in brackets and decided to leave it as is. -:)

I know there's no comparison, but I was in an auto accident 30 years ago and suffered from "Moderate - severe" whiplash. Being in Alberta at the time, whiplash wasn't (and still isn't) considered a serious injury, (not sure about other provinces). The accident wasn't my fault (someone went through a stop sign) and my settlement was a whole $2500.00. Since then, I have suffered from debilitating migraine headaches (which I had never experienced before in my life) and now have severe arthritis in my neck and shoulders. I require regular treatment to mitigate any discomfort and the cost, (both in terms of health care and out of pocket expenses) has far outweighed any settlement I received. The thinking was (and still is, I believe) that whiplash is a soft tissue injury and is, therefore, not serious.


The bottom line is that no one can predict how injuries will affect you in the future and this lady may have injuries that will not only last a lifetime but may affect her ability to earn an income and also result in her requiring assistance at some point in the future. It'll be interesting though to see what happens.


JMO


You made one mistake...............................you signed something! You should have added a codicil.

There is one thing that strikes me as bogus about this incident. In an accident where there is serious injury you don't know the full outcome in 10 days. Has her doc told her how long she is to be off work for? Has she been told how long she can expect suffering to continue? Before she can settle for anything, I'm betting at least three medical opinions would be required. It will be interesting to hear the final outcome.
 

taxslave

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Thought I might get a rise out of that! I was going to add the words "if appropriate" in brackets and decided to leave it as is. -:)




You made one mistake...............................you signed something! You should have added a codicil.

There is one thing that strikes me as bogus about this incident. In an accident where there is serious injury you don't know the full outcome in 10 days. Has her doc told her how long she is to be off work for? Has she been told how long she can expect suffering to continue? Before she can settle for anything, I'm betting at least three medical opinions would be required. It will be interesting to hear the final outcome.

If she gets a million $$$$ she will be off work permanently.
 

Sal

Hall of Fame Member
Sep 29, 2007
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If she gets a million $$$$ she will be off work permanently.
Depends upon her age and her earning ability. A million isn't that much these days. Part of that goes to lawyers fees. It is not an unreasonable amount if the injury is real and may have far reaching consequences.
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
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Depends upon her age and her earning ability. A million isn't that much these days. Part of that goes to lawyers fees. It is not an unreasonable amount if the injury is real and may have far reaching consequences.


I would imagine when the judge decides the amount he takes into account how much the mouth piece will take. I wonder if he also takes into account how many other people safely negotiated the door than day. -:)
 

Chev

Electoral Member
Feb 10, 2009
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Upon rereading the article, I'd concede her injuries are fairly serious and I would also concede in the right circumstances she could deserve a $million, BUT, this same incident happened twice !!! It happened on Jan. 14 so I find it hard to imagine the extent of her injuries have been determined already. Depending on what her occupation is she'd have to be off work for any where from 10-30 years.
Article states: "A statement of claim filed on behalf of Carol Rontynen says she was injured Jan. 14, 2012, while exiting a Shawville Blvd. S.W. Safeway store."
All I'm going to say is, note the year.
 

wulfie68

Council Member
Mar 29, 2009
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Calgary, AB
Any pre-existing conditions?

Seems to me that she is asking a lot for loss of income and future income. There is a set formula to calculate this kind of thing. Similarly, the loss of income(s) claim based on inability to work may exempt her from receiving any support from programs like long-term disability. The message being, she might be screwing herself in the long run

I'll wager that Safeway has cc cameras throughout the store and when analyzed, will have a pretty large impact on her court case.

Expect her lawyer to rush to settle long before it hits an actual court


Or if their CC cameras don't show her to be doing anything in the wrong, it could be Safeway that settles...
 

captain morgan

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Or if their CC cameras don't show her to be doing anything in the wrong, it could be Safeway that settles...

No doubt, but I am trying to get my head around how this lady was knocked unconscious by the door in the first place.

It is possible that the mechanism was faulty and swung open (closed) too fast, but in my experience, those doors move quite slowly and don't have a great deal of force behind them.

Regardless, the truth will come out
 

JLM

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Article states: "A statement of claim filed on behalf of Carol Rontynen says she was injured Jan. 14, 2012, while exiting a Shawville Blvd. S.W. Safeway store."
All I'm going to say is, note the year.


That puts a different "light" on it. Mea culpa....................comes with age I guess.