A federal jury awarded Pamela Morrison, a 74-year-old Arizona woman, $7.25 million after she suffered a spinal compression fracture in a fall while exiting the Harry Potter ride at Universal Studios Hollywood. Morrison, who was exiting the ride with her grandson, fell from a moving walkway due to the employees' failure to stop it for her safe exit. Her attorney argued this negligence was driven by the park's desire to maintain high rider throughput. The jury held the park liable after deliberating for four hours, noting the fall significantly impacted Morrison's life.
Morrison slipped and fell when stepping from a moving walkway onto solid ground, according to her lawsuit. Her attorney, Taylor Kruse, argued that Morrison's fall was due to employees' failure to halt the moving walkway and allow the woman to exit safely.
Lawyers for Universal Studios Hollywood argued that Morrison was focused on her grandson and not on where she was stepping, so the fall was her fault.
After a three-day trial, the California jury deliberated for four hours on Feb. 14 before finding the theme park responsible for creating the dangerous conditions that led to Morrison's accident.
The fall changed her whole life, and that's what the jury saw, Kruse said. Obviously we feel that this was a very just result.
Collection
[
|
...
]