Philly jury awards $15 million to a woman whose leg was amputated after she slipped on a staircase with no handrail
Attorneys for Patricia Thompson argued that building owner Alisha Real Estate was operating a “get rich quick scheme” and not focused on the safety of tenants in affordable housing.
A Philadelphia jury found Friday that the owner and management company of a West Philadelphia building were responsible for a woman losing her leg following a complication of an ankle injury she incurred slipping on a staircase with no handrail, awarding her $15 million.
The verdict is the seventh-highest by a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court jury in 2024, according to court data.
On a May 2021 morning, Patricia Thompson walked out of her second-floor apartment in West Philadelphia and went down the building’s only staircase on her way to a dialysis appointment, according to court records. There was no handrail and Thompson lost her balance, her right foot landing unevenly on the step below.
The seemingly minor slip turned out to be devastating. Thompson broke her ankle, requiring surgery in which hardware was inserted to repair the fracture. When the implanted hardware got infected over a month later, physicians had to amputate her right leg below the knee, according to court records.
Thompson filed a lawsuit in 2023 in Common Pleas Court against the building’s owner, Alisha Real Estate; the building’s property management company, Bay Property Management Group; and a local contractor, Super Home Improvements.
If the building had been up to code, with proper lighting in the staircase and a handrail as required by the city, Thompson would have still have her leg, she argued.
During the five-day trial, jurors heard from Thompson, 54, who explained that despite having diabetes and kidney disease, she used to be “the life of the party,” recalled Jeffrey Goodman, her attorney. But that changed with the amputation.
Thompson’s attorneys argued that Alisha Real Estate’s business model was a “get-rich-quick scheme” and not focused on the safety of tenants, Goodman, who is with the Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky firm, said.
“That really is what drove it home to the jury, I think,” he said.
Frank Deasey, who represented Alisha Real Estate, said that his clients are “good people” who are providing affordable housing in the community. But Thompson’s lawyer led the jury to believe otherwise, the Deasey Mahoney & Valentini attorney said.
The building owners completed the purchase of the property less than two weeks prior to the slip, Deasey said. And they argued it was the responsibility of the property management company, or the contractor they hired to look at the property before the sale was completed, to fix safety problems.
Bay, the management company, settled before trial for an undisclosed amount. Its attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
Thompson’s lawyers offered to settle with Alisha for $5 million, which was the maximum amount covered by the firm’s insurance policy. But the insurance company declined, according to court filings. They then increased the settlement offer to $20 million.
Alisha offered to pay $3 million, court records show
On Friday, the jury awarded Thompson $15 million, all in noneconomic damages. It found that Alisha Real Estate was 75% responsible for her injury and Bay Property Management Group was 25% responsible. Jurors found that the contractor, Super Home Improvements, wasn’t responsible at all.
“Obviously my clients and I are very disappointed,” Deasey said of the verdict.