Missouri's highest court sends Cape 'slip and fall' case back to Stoddard County

In a 23-page ruling released Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled the case of a title company employee injured in an Aug. 29, 2013, fall in the former Cape Girardeau Common Pleas Courthouse -- now part of the new City Hall complex at 44 N. Lorimier St. -- be remanded, or sent back, to the original trial court.

The justices, ruling en banc -- meaning it was a decision of the entire court -- found the instructions to the jury were in error.

On Dec. 29, 2020, the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, based in Springfield, Missouri, upheld a $427,500 personal injury award to Pamela D. Allen.

The appeals court ruling upheld the May 3, 2019, verdict reached by a Stoddard County jury in Bloomfield, Missouri, after a three-day trial, which found the State of Missouri liable for Allen's injuries.

Originally, Allen and her husband, Kelly D. Allen, had sued the state, which was using the courthouse in 2013, and the City of Cape Girardeau and Cape Girardeau County because the latter government entities jointly owned the 1854-era building at the time of the incident. The trial-court jury excused the city and county from financial culpability, finding the state 90% liable and 10% liable, which reduced the size of the award to $427,500.

Plaintiff reaction

Attorney Michael Moroni, whose practice is in Bloomfield, was one of the two attorneys representing Allen.

He commented on the high court's decision Tuesday.

"I'm disappointed it reversed the judgment based on the jury instruction but I'm happy the court ruled against the defendants' sovereign immunity argument," he said.

The high court, in its rendered opinion, said because the jury was "improperly instructed on the law of sovereign immunity for the reasons claimed by the state, the state is entitled to further proceedings."

The Office of Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt had requested the verdict be reversed because one of the trial jury's instructions "was a misstatement of the law and the state never waived sovereign immunity."

In vacating the judgment, the justices also said the 32nd Judicial Circuit Court is being directed to consider the liability of all three original defendants in the Allens' suit -- state, city and county.

Kelly Allen's claim of loss of consortium was upheld by the justices.

"The case is going back to Stoddard County," Moroni said, "and I need to read the justices' opinion carefully to see if there will be a new trial on all issues, but all three defendants are now back in the case -- and sovereign immunity is out the window."

Defendant reaction

"The Supreme Court has decided there was an instructional error and we're all back to square one," said Al Spradling III, attorney for the City of Cape Girardeau, who estimated the trial court in Stoddard County will schedule the matter for late this year or early 2023.

"I'm surprised at the result and somewhat disappointed the city was not out of the case."

The 32nd Circuit Court, which formally brought the appeal, serves Bollinger, Cape Girardeau and Perry counties.

The Supreme Court's ruling comes nearly four months after both sides presented oral arguments in Jefferson City on Sept. 14.

Injury

The Allen lawsuit, filed originally in March 2016, asserted Pamela Allen incurred $130,000 in medical care expenses.

Allen said the fall occurred as she headed to the courthouse basement to retrieve a court file on behalf of her employer, United Land Title, three years earlier.

According to the appeals court ruling, Allen received a key from a deputy clerk employed by the state to access the basement. The court document further stated after unlocking the basement door, Pamela began to "slowly descend the stairs at an angle because her feet did not fit on the stair treads and during her descent, Allen grabbed the handrail and at the second or third step from the landing, she stepped with her left foot and felt it slip off the stair. She fell forward and hit the landing, sustaining several injuries."

The lawsuit claimed the initial diagnosis was a broken left leg. Unable to stand, the court document continued, Allen crawled to the top of stairway and upon reaching the entrance, "called out for the on-duty officer, who responded."

After both sides agreed to a change of venue, a Stoddard County jury in Bloomfield on May 3, 2019, found the State of Missouri at fault for Allen's injuries after a three-day trial.

The original case from the plaintiff Allens alleged serious injuries to Pamela's lower and upper extremities and a left leg fracture resulting in life-threatening blood clots in her lungs and treatment in hospital intensive care.