A Florida restaurant and hotel chain agreed to pay $400,000 to a woman who slipped and fell in a bathroom.

As reported by the Daily Business Review on Monday January 12, 2009, Tonya I. , a client of The Law Offices of Chalik & Chalik, claimed that her fall on a wet restaurant bathroom floor aggravated a lower-back injury that resulted in cauda equine syndrome, an extreme form of nerve compression. She underwent fusion surgery a week after the fall. She also claimed a head injury triggered a congenital defect known as a Chiari malformation. As a result, she had difficulty swallowing and developed memory loss. She also claimed that she developed seizures as the result of the slip fall accident.

Through thorough analysis of the case and the facts and circumstances surrounding Tonya I.’s accident, Attorney Debi Chalik determined that the hotel and restaurant did not maintain their property in a reasonably safe manner so that a visitor would not be injured.

After months of contentious negotiation and denial of responsibility, the hotel finally admitted to Debi Chalik that they had failed in their duty of adequately maintaining the safety of the area. The owner of the property was held accountable and paid for Tonya's injuries.

The accounts of recent trials, verdicts and settlements contained in this Newsletter are intended to illustrate the experience of the firm in a variety of litigation areas. Each case is unique, and the results in one case do not necessarily indicate the quality or value of any other case.