Fulcher v. United States

88 F. Supp. 3d 763, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8870, 2015 WL 362473
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Kentucky
DecidedJanuary 27, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 5:13-CV-00163-TBR
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 88 F. Supp. 3d 763 (Fulcher v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fulcher v. United States, 88 F. Supp. 3d 763, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8870, 2015 WL 362473 (W.D. Ky. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

THOMAS B. RUSSELL, Senior District Judge.

On the damp afternoon of January 25, 2012, Plaintiff Regina Ann Fulcher traveled to the United States Post Office located at 225 West Broadway in Mayfield, Kentucky, (“the Post Office”), to check her mail. When she entered through the wheelchair accessible door, she stepped onto a floor mat allegedly saturated with rain, causing her to slide, lose her balance, and fall forward onto the wet floor. She struck a display shelf before ultimately landing on her right side. Fulcher contends that as a result of this fall, she suffered serious and permanent injuries to her right side and right foot.

Fulcher brings this lawsuit against the United States pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2671 et seq. She alleges that the Government, though employees of the United States Postal Service (“USPS”), failed to exercise ordinary care by neglecting to replace the wet floor mat with a dry one. She also alleges that USPS employees negligently failed to comply with agency regulations requiring the use of signs to caution customers of a wet floor. (Docket No. 1, ¶¶ 7-12.)

A bench trial was conducted before this Court on December 30, 2014 to resolve Fulcher’s claims. Having considered the testimony of various witnesses, the exhibits admitted into evidence on behalf of both parties, the arguments of counsel, and the remainder of the record, the Court finds as follows.

Findings of Fact

1. This case involves a slip and fall at the Mayfield, Kentucky Post Office operated by the United States Postal Service. The accident from which this action arises [766]*766occurred on January 25; 2012, throughout which it rained intermittently.

2. A rubber-bottomed, corrugated floor mat sits just inside the entrance from the wheelchair ramp to the Post Office lobby. These floor mats were provided by a commercial rental company, which was contracted to replace them approximately twice weekly during the winter months.

3. The USPS Supervisor Safety Handbook requires supervisors to ensure that employees abide by certain procedures to prevent potential slip, trip, or fall accidents. Specifically, postal employees should “secure carpets, rugs, and mats” and “[ajrrange them to prevent slipping. Repair or replace those with wrinkles, turned up edges, or tears.” The manual provides further guidelines concerning wet floors, instructing employees to maintain a dry area for pedestrian traffic and requiring them to mop any excessive moisture on lobby floors. Employees are further required to rope off wet areas with wet floor signs or high visibility safety barricades. (Handbook EL-801, Plaintiffs Trial Exhibit 12.)

4. Additional safety instructions require USPS employees, to “[i]nspect floor mats often. If curling occurs ... tape down the edges with pressure-sensitive or duct tape to prevent tripping.” Employees are further advised to provide extra mats at customer entrances during inclement weather. (Handbook MS-10, Plaintiffs Trial Exhibit 13.)

5. At approximately three o’clock in the afternoon, Fulcher entered the Post Office from the wheelchair ramp entrance, where the floor mat was positioned. She testified that the weather was “misting” at this point in the afternoon. Upon Ful-cher’s first step onto the floor mat, she slipped and fell forward onto the wet floor, striking the display shelf before landing on her right side. She described her fall as follows: “I came up the wheelchair ramp.

I opened the door. I stepped in. The — I stepped in on the rug, slid. I fell, landed on my right side, hit my shoulder up against the display shelf.... I hit the floor.” After the fall, Fulcher noticed that accumulated moisture had accumulated on both the floor mat and the floor itself and concluded that this accumulation caused her fall. She then arose and walked to her post office box to retrieve her mail.

6. No named witnesses observed the accident or complained of a wet floor. However, Stan Rogers, a postal employee, was stationed at the customer service desk at the time of Fulcher’s fall. As Rogers served customers, he heard a noise in the lobby and observed a woman stand up .from the floor. (Stan Rogers Statement, Plaintiffs Trial Exhibit 15.)

7. No warning signs cautioned customers of the wet floor.

8. Fulcher then left the Post Office and returned to the truck where her husband, Larry Wayne Fulcher, had been waiting for her. Fulcher shared the story of her accident with her husband, who then entered the building and noticed that the floor mats and the surrounding surfaces were wet and observed footprints on the floor. He testified that when he stepped on the floor mat, he “could see water on the inside sole of [his] shoe.” No customers, including Fulcher, complained that day of a wet floor or rain-saturated rug. However, Larry Fulcher spoke with a postal employee who advised him that the janitor was not working that day. The Post Office’s janitorial service was generally limited to approximately four hours each day, from eight o’clock in the morning until noon.

9. The following day, Fulcher returned to the Post Office and reported her accident to USPS customer service supervisor Amanda Wallace, who was not typically assigned to the Mayfield branch but occa[767]*767sionally substituted there. Fulcher executed a written statement reporting that she “[f]ell on the floor/hit left shoulder on shelf. Right side hit floor. Right shoulder and side hit floor. The floor was wet. Slid on carpet as well.” (Plaintiffs Trial Exhibit 2.) Although she did not mention an injury to her right foot or ankle at this time, she now attributes this omission to the fact that she had not visited a doctor to determine whether she was hurt.

10. Wallace recorded the circumstances that Fulcher conveyed to her as follows: “Aprox. 3 pm on 1-25 — 12 came in door w/ wheelchair ramp — had been raining — floor was wet — rug was there. She states no sign said wet floor — shoes—diabetic shoes — black (I looked at her shoes. Slipped on wet floor. Rug slipped as soon as she walked on door — boom—went down — no one assisted — states Stan saw her fall.” (Plaintiffs Trial Exhibit 14.)

11. Wallace prepared the required accident investigation worksheet and report for the USPS following her interview with Fulcher. On the forms, Wallace indicated that the weather was rainy and that the surface condition was wet. Wallace recorded Fulcher’s complaints of shoulder pain; no mention was made of foot or ankle injury. (USPS Accident Investigation Worksheet, Plaintiffs Trial Exhibit 10; USPS Form 1769/301 Accident Report, Plaintiffs Trial Exhibit 11.)

12. Fulcher testified that subsequent to the fall, her foot began to hurt. Medical records indicate that Fulcher had previously complained of right foot pain in November 2010 and March 2011, when her internist, Dr. Patrick Finney, ordered x-rays of the foot. (Medical Records of Dr. Finney, Defendant’s Trial Exhibit 18.)

13. On January 27, 2012, Fulcher was seen at Dr. Finney’s office, where she treated with Nurse Practitioner Amanda Hale. The resultant medical records indicate that Fulcher reported having fallen two days prior and complained pain in both shoulders and down the right side of her body.1

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88 F. Supp. 3d 763, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8870, 2015 WL 362473, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fulcher-v-united-states-kywd-2015.