A Dec. 2009 ruling of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania concurred with the decision of a Philadelphia County Trial Judge to dismiss the claim of a PA slip and fall victim. A security guard was working at an oil refinery owned by one of her employer’s clients when she slipped and fell on snow & ice. Her PA slip & fall attorney sued the property owned. The Defendant’s attorneys claimed that a release she signed with her employer barred her case.
The Appeals Court affirmed the lower court decision to dismiss the slip and fall claim due to the release language. The contract waived her claims against any clients of the employer so long as she received Worker’s Compensation benefits for her injuries. The claim by her attorney that the release language violated public policy was rejected. The Pennsylvania slip and fall victim was only able to receive payment for her medical bills and partial reimbursement of her lost wage. Bowman v. Sunoco, Inc., 986 A.2d 883 (PA Super. 2009)
