CHARLESTON — LPM Real Estate denies the allegations against it in a lawsuit filed by a man who was injured on its property.
The defendant denies that the plaintiff is entitled to recover any amount whatsoever against it, according to the defendant's answer.
"Plaintiff's recovery, if any, against this Defendant is barred, in whole or in part, by Plaintiff's failure to mitigate alleged damages, if any," the answer states. "If, on the other hand, Plaintiff has mitigated Plaintiff's alleged damages, if any, or received any form of workers' compensation or other relief, then this Defendant is entitled to an offset in damages for any and all amounts Plaintiff has received in mitigation of Plaintiff's damages or in settlement, if any, for such alleged damages."
The defendant argues that the alleged events giving rise to the civil action were the result of unforeseeable superseding/intervening causes.
LPM owns a multi-unit residence in Charleston and in March 2021, it hired a company to perform some work, including painting the interior of Unit 4, according to the complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Robert Fluharty claims the company hired him to do the painting work and on March 4, 2021, he had completed the painting and was in the process of cleaning his equipment when he went to wring out a paint roller over the railing and the railing became detached, calling him to fall head-first onto the ground below.
Fluharty claims he suffered severe injuries from the fall.
The defendant was responsible for maintaining the property and making sure it was free of hazardous and defective conditions and failed to do so, according to the suit.
Fluharty claims the defendant failed to maintain the railing and failed to warn him of the dangers it presented.
Fluharty is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. He is represented by Stephen B. Farmer and R. Chad Duffield of Farmer, Cline & Cambell in Charleston
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 23-C-89
