Care home must face suit over resident fall in auto door
LOS ANGELES: An appeals court has revived claims alleging that a personal care home’s negligence led to an automatic door hitting and knocking over a 91-year-old man, saying the jury should decide whether the home was more familiar with the door’s hazards and whether the man was careful of his own safety.
In the opinion, the panel reversed summary judgment in favor of Felton Manor LLC in the suit brought by Virginia Lee Traver as administrator of Richard Baney’s estate.
According to the opinion, Baney had been a resident of the group home in July 2017, two years after the automatic swinging doors were installed at the most commonly used entrance at the home. Baney was heading outside to take a walk, pressed the button to open the doors, stopped briefly to converse with another resident, and then walked through the doorway.
However, the doors were already swinging closed, struck Baney and knocked him over, according to the opinion. It said he underwent surgery for a broken hip, and experienced pain and other medical issues until his death in August 2018.
The trial court in his suit granted summary judgment to Felton Manor, finding that the home didn’t have actual or constructive knowledge of the hazard that caused Baney’s fall and Baney had not exercised ordinary care for his own safety when he stopped in the doorway to talk to another resident.
In Tuesday’s opinion, however, the panel found that there were factual issues for a jury to decide on both points. The panel noted that, as the owner of the property who had the doors installed, Felton Manor was aware of how they operated, including the timing of their closing and the force involved, while Baney – a 91-year-old man with dementia – may not have been entirely aware of the timing of the doors, or the force with which they would close.
In addition, the panel noted that the force of the door was only tested against one person, the six-foot three, 385 pound maintenance worker who installed it, while the population of the home ranges in age from 70 to 104, and the residents were described by the home’s former executive director as “very frail”.
The panel further found that there were factual questions for a jury about whether Baney exercised care for his own safety, saying that while he did stop at the doorway, he did not stop an inordinately long time, given the doors were still open when he ended the conversation and closed on him when he was past the threshold.
And while Baney had used the doors previously, the record does not show that Baney readily discerned the specific hazard that allegedly caused his fall, or that he was aware of exactly how long the doors would remain open, again noting that he had dementia like other residents of Felton Manor.
“This court is not in a position to say, as a matter of law, that such residents would have had the cognitive ability to fully appreciate the risk of using the timed doors,” the pane wrote.
Curtis Joel Dickson of The Dickson Law Firm LLC, representing Traver said, “We feel very good about the case, because we think it creates the right accountability for people in nursing homes, who are the most vulnerable among us.”
Maxwell Kent Thelen of Ashby Thelen Lowry, also representing Traver, called it an important decision and praised the court for rejecting the care home’s argument that it could not be held negligent because it met safety standards. He added that the court was very careful to look at all the facts about the home’s knowledge of the hazard.
Representatives for Felton Manor could not immediately be reached for comment.
Chief Judge Brian M. Rickman and Judges M. Yvette Miller and Trea Pipkin served on the panel.
Trave is represented by Laura McDonnell Barron and Curtis Joel Dickinson of the Dickinson Law Firm LLC and Maxwell Kent Thelen of Ashby Thelen Lowry.
Felton Manor is represented by Bernard Francis Kistlr Jr. of The Cincinnati Insurance Co.
The case is Traver v. Felton Manor LLC, case number A22A0861, in the Court of Appeals of Georgia.