Elder v. Rizzardo Bros Holdings Inc.

Elder v. Rizzardo Bros Holdings Inc.
(22 November, 2016) Newmarket, CV-11-102525 (ON SC)

Helen fractured her elbow while walking through a grocery store parking lot. She slipped and fell on an icy concrete island beside a wheelchair accessible parking space.

The value of Helen’s claim was agreed upon by the parties. Still, the defendant property owner and maintenance contractor did not accept any responsibility for the accident. They did not make any offer to settle. It was their position that Helen was 100% to blame. They came to a secret agreement to join forces against Helen. She had no choice but to concede or fight at trial. Helen chose to fight.

Through the trial, we established that the property owner’s contractor’s records were made-up and that the engineer’s reconstruction was critically flawed and misrepresentative of the work that was actually performed.

The jury found the property owner 50% at-fault, the contractor 40% at-fault, and Helen 10% at-fault.