Jury finds Parkway Plaza and McDonald’s at fault for slip and fall injury.

CONTACT: Sydnie Moore (619) 283-8896 or
Thomas D. Penfield (619) 238-1811

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East County Woman Awarded more Than $260,000

EL CAJON, Calif. — An East County jury has ordered Parkway Plaza Mall and McDonald’s restaurant to pay $261,000 in damages to an El Cajon resident who was seriously injured when she slipped and fell in a common area of the mall.

Thomas D. Penfield, a partner with San Diego-based Casey Gerry Reed & Schenk, represented Margaret Wahlen, 48, in the case against McDonald’s and Parkway Plaza (Westfield Corporation), a large shopping mall in El Cajon, Calif.

According to Penfield, as the result of the fall, Wahlen underwent four painful surgeries, one to her shoulder and three to her right knee. “The jury determined that the accident was due to negligence on the part of both the mall and the restaurant,” Penfield explained. “Water trailed from McDonald’s onto the mall’s dark terrazzo tile and was virtually invisible,” he explained. “The Jury found that Parkway Plaza had not taken the necessary steps to make its flooring more slip resistant, even though it knew terrazzo tile was extremely dangerous when wet.”

Penfield said that a jury trial was made necessary when both McDonald’s and Parkway Plaza refused to pay his client’s medical bills. “Following multiple surgeries and 123 physical therapy sessions, she still has difficulty walking,” he said.

Established in 1947, Casey Gerry Reed & Schenk is the oldest plaintiffs’ law firm in San Diego. The firm is located at 110 Laurel Street in the Banker’s Hill neighborhood of San Diego.