LOGAN – An invitee of a Huntington dry cleaner alleges the store's unsafe environment caused her to fall and fracture her leg.
Valerie L. Lawhun filed a complaint Nov. 3 in Logan Circuit Court against WV Cleaners Inc., doing business as Wilson's Cleaners, and David Trent, as trustee of the Vinson Taylor Trust alleging negligence.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on Oct. 26, 2015, she entered Wilson's Cleaners to drop some off laundry and tripped on a concrete step that was disguised as a door threshold. She alleges she sustained a fracture of the left femur with a fracture of the femoral neck, has undergone surgery and incurred medical expenses.
The suit states the building that Wilson's Cleaners occupied was owned by the Vinson Taylor Trust.
The plaintiff holds WV Cleaners Inc. and Trent, as trustee of the Vinson Taylor Trust, responsible because the defendants allegedly negligently maintained the 4-inch step leading to the building, which was not in compliance with the Americans with Disability Act regulations, and failed to provide warning markings of the unsafe condition.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks compensatory damages, with interest, punitive damages, attorney's fees and such other general and special relief as the court deems proper. She is represented by William M. Tiano of Tiano O'Dell PLLC in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Joshua Butcher.
Logan Circuit Court case number 17-C-288