A woman has been awarded over $900K in damages after injuring herself in a 7-Eleven parking lot in Smithers.
According to the court’s decision, Crystal Tommy was on her way to work and stopped at the convenience store for a coffee on the morning of May 2, 2018.
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However, as she exited the premises, she tripped on a pot hole in the 7-Eleven parking lot and broke her ankle in three places.
Since the injury, Tommy has reportedly suffered a number of complications, leading to the claim against 7-Eleven.
Court documents say that after the injury, Tommy was mostly immobile, and required a cast, then an air boot. She missed several months of work while utilizing a wheelchair and crutches.
By the end of December, she was walking but with mobility impairment and a limp. Due to her condition, she suffered a fall down some stairs and also injured her back, leading to more persistent pain and discomfort.
She was then involved in a car crash in 2021, after which she needed surgery.
Ultimately, in late 2022, she told the court she had to stop working and has been dealing with an array of issues such as mental health struggles, health issues and poverty.
The damages sought were not in regards to the surgeries, but the healing time beyond the surgical issues.
7-Eleven and their property management company claimed that they were not liable for the accident in the parking lot, and further claimed that Tommy could not establish that the fall she suffered afterwards was caused or contributed to by her previous ankle injury.
The defendants argued that Tommy could not have tripped in the pothole that day, as a van had been parked on top of it.
They also said that the “photographic evidence shows a very small depression in the ground and that the property was reasonably safe for use.”
Court documents allege that the pothole was filled in shortly after Tommy’s injury, likely by a local manager.
The judge ultimately concluded that the claim that the pothole was covered up by a van was conjecture, and that the defendant did not have a reasonable system of inspection and maintenance in place.
“Even if this system were considered reasonable, there is no evidence this system was being followed at the time of the accident in 2018.”
As such, 7-Eleven was found to be liable for causing Tommy’s injuries as well as the consequences that followed.
The total amount the judge awarded Tommy was $907,363, for past and future loss of income, care and more.
