Alan Scher Zagier//October 10, 2024//
A city of St. Louis jury has rejected a premises liability lawsuit against Saint Louis University filed by a county resident who was struck by a car while on her way to a men’s basketball game at Chaifetz Arena in 2016.
Martha van Rhein and her husband Thomas sued SLU and private company Spectra, its arena operator, alleging the two defendants negligently violated state traffic laws by failing to have a suitable traffic control plan in place.
They further alleged that campus public safety officers in charge of traffic control were pulled from the event too early. Van Rhein was struck in a crosswalk at the intersection of Compton and Laclede avenues roughly 12 minutes after the game’s scheduled 7 p.m. start on March 5, 2016.
She suffered a range of traumatic injuries, said lead defense attorney Bharat Varadachari of HeplerBroom, including a brain injury, broken pelvis, broken ribs, ruptured colon and loss of bowel control, and sought $18 million in damages. Attorneys for the two plaintiffs did not respond to several requests for comment.
Varadachari said the defense focused on the “dangerous actions of the driver who was not part of the lawsuit.”
“The driver that struck the plaintiff passed another vehicle in the middle of the intersection in between two crosswalks,” he said. “This was a negligent maneuver, and a Temporary Traffic Control Plan cannot be designed to prevent against this kind of imprudent driving.”
In addition, he said, the defense countered testimony by a plaintiff’s expert with prior testimony in a different case in which he “offered the opinion that the Manual on Uniform Control Traffic Devices is not designed for imprudent drivers. Based on his prior testimony in another case, there was nothing my clients could do to protect the plaintiff from a dangerous driver.”
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- Jury verdict for the defense
- Premises liability
- Venue: City of St. Louis Circuit Court
- Case Number/Date: 2022-CC10123/Sept. 6, 2024
- Judge: Circuit Judge Madeline Connolly
- Caption: Martha and Thomas Van Rhein v. Saint Louis University, Global Spectrum, LLC
- Plaintiff’s Attorneys: Michael Harrison (lead), Harrison Law Firm, Clayton; Aaron Woods, Woods Law Firm, Kansas City
- Defendant’s Attorneys: Bharat Varadachari (lead) and Adam McGonigle, HeplerBroom, St. Louis
- Plaintiff’s Experts: Jason Bodart, SEA, St. Louis (engineering); Dr. Patricia Hurford, St. Louis
- Defendant’s Experts: Dr. Iona Scully, Exponent, Chicago (psychology); Kevin Gorman, Robison Forensics, Lancaster, Pa. (engineering)
- Insurance: United Educators, Lancaster, Pa. (for Saint Louis University)
- Last Pretrial Demand: $18 million
- Last Pretrial Offer: $250,000
Injuries alleged: head, brain, neck, back, spine, hip, pelvis, leg, knee, ankle, foot, digestive, gastrointestinal. emotional, psychological
Injuries detail: brain injury, broken ribs, broken pelvis, hip injury, ruptured colon, loss of bowel control, emotional injuries and required use of a cane. Plaintiff’s husband brought a claim for loss of consortium
This article credit to MOLawyersMedia