CHARLESTON – The estate of a South Charleston man blames his death on a Hardee’s restaurant for being grossly noncompliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Helen Roberta Vincent White, as executrix of the estate of Joseph Franklin White, filed her complaint February 9 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Cap Niki LLC, River Valley Restaurants LLC, Capstone Restaurant Group LLC and Hardee’s Restaurants LLC.
According to the complaint, Joseph White slipped and fell in the parking lot of the Hardee’s on Bigley Avenue in Charleston during a visit March 1, 2019, that led to his eventual death.
diTrapano
Joseph White, 77, visited the restaurant to have a meal with friends. He had diabetes, and he had a valid handicap parking placard. He parked in one of the available handicap parking spaces.
In front of the handicap spaces, there is a marked sidewalk directing patrons onto a larger, flat walking path that led directly to the front door.
“Joseph reasonably believed the restaurant was holding this area out to customers as a safe, broad path to the front door, perhaps even made especially for handicapped patrons, given its position in front of only the handicapped spots,” the complaint states. “To the naked eye, the path appeared safe, clear and built for walking and inviting customers to the front door.
“But, it wasn’t. The path wasn’t safe and wasn’t intended for walking at all.”
It says the path actually was an old, fallow, empty landscaping bed with no signs of landscaping. It says satellite images from 2007 show landscaping there.
“Joseph never made it to the front door,” the complaint states. “While walking on what he reasonably believed was a path and to the naked eye appeared safe, he tripped, fell forward and hit his head on the side of the building, face-first.”
His friends called 911, and he was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center General. He was rushed into surgery an intubated. He also had a catheter inserted, but he tried to rip that out and caused more pain and suffering.
After eight days in the hospital, White was transferred to Genesis and began physical therapy.
On March 19, 2020, Joseph White died. His death certificate listed the cause as “acute cerebrovascular accident.”
The plaintiff says the defendants willfully put handicapped patrons such as White in danger by constructing a path that invited them onto the landscaping and by holding out both the path and the landscaping as the way to the front door. She says the situation was “grossly noncompliant with the ADA.”
“Indeed, patrons were invited to believe that this was the ADA-compliant path they were supposed to use,” the complaint states.
The plaintiff accuses the defendants of negligence and seeks compensatory damages for physical pain, emotional distress, accrued medical bills, loss of household services, loss of income, continuing expenses, injury, embarrassment, loss of consortium and loss of enjoyment of life. She also seeks punitive damages.
White is being represented by Dante diTrapano and Alexander McLaughlin of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Carrie Webster.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 21-C-119
