GALVESTON – Alleging her minor daughter lost her thumb after she was sucked into a wave pool vent at a Galveston water park, Humble resident Icha D. Kerr pursues legal action.

Horowitz

A lawsuit filed Oct. 4 against Galveston Island Water Park L.P. in Galveston County District Court states Serenity C. Davis was playing in the wave pool at Schlitterbahn Galveston Island Waterpark at the time of the Aug. 25 incident.

Court papers say the child was waiting near the pool’s wall for the next wave “when she felt her hand being suctioned into the wall’s vent.”

“While her thumb was being suctioned into the vent, the wave pool’s currents were pulling her in the opposite direction,” the original petition states.

The suit adds that other swimmers were able to remove her hand from the vent, but “her thumb was no longer attached to her hand.”

Kerr recalls holding her daughter’s hand above the water in an effort to stop the “profuse” bleeding.

The child, who joins her mother as a co-plaintiff in the case, was then placed in a wheelchair while further pressure was applied to her thumb until more appropriate medical attention was given.

Kerr blames the water park for not providing advanced warning ahead of the subject event. She also faults the venue for failing to properly maintain and survey the premises as well as failing to eliminate any potential risks or dangers.

Neither Kerr or her daughter did anything to bring forth their injuries and damages, the suit insists.

Attorney Daniel D. Horowitz III with Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend in Houston is representing the complainants, and Galveston County 10th District Court Judge David Garner is presiding over the case.

Case No. 12-cv-2131

GALVESTON – Texas City resident Charles Matthews alleges a relative of his was subjected to substandard care at a local nursing facility and has filed a lawsuit. 

Recent court documents filed Oct. 4 in Galveston County District Court show Eddie Matthews fell twice in late 2011 while under the care of Gulf Healthcare Center.

The defendant admitted Eddie Matthews at its Texas City premises on Feb. 29, 2008.

Charles Matthews, his attorney in fact, claims the resident fell and fractured his right hip on Sept. 22, 2011, requiring surgery.

That incident was supposedly followed by another fall a month later which injured his right hip once more.

In addition to the falls, Eddie Matthews developed infected pressure ulcers, the suit says.

According to the complainant, GHC “repeatedly violated the law by failing to provide sufficient numbers of nursing personnel and to provide competent nursing personnel.”

It further faults the respondent for holding itself out to the public as having knowledge or skill particular to the care of the elderly only to misrepresent itself to the plaintiff.

Charles Matthews consequently sues for pain and suffering, psychological distress, physical losses, emotional distress, mental anguish and medical expenses.

He also seeks a jury trial.

Attorney Roy Camberg with The Camberg Law Firm P.C. in Houston is representing the complainant, and Galveston County 405th District Court Judge Wayne Mallia is presiding over the case.

Case No. 12-cv-2128

GALVESTON – A Dickinson school district employee has filed suit against Fed-Ex and one of its drivers after a shipment caused her to fall and injure herself. 

Janie Leslie’s lawsuit, filed Oct. 10 in Galveston County District Court, claims the subject incident occurred on Oct. 20, 2010.

Court papers say Leslie was walking behind a load of pallets containing 5-gallon cans of paint that were being unloaded by an employee with the defendant to “make sure they didn’t fall” as instructed by the unnamed driver.

According to the original petition, the paint cans fell and hit Leslie, causing her to be thrown to the cement.

“The force of the impact and her fall severely injured [Janie] Leslie,” the suit says.

It adds the plaintiff was subsequently diagnosed with back and knee injuries, and the pain in her back prompted her to undergo surgery.

Fed-Ex is accused of:

• Failing to properly train their drivers on loading and unloading procedures;
• Failing to ensure that the produce being delivered was properly secure on the pallets before being unloaded;
• Failing to ensure that other people such as the plaintiff were not in an area where they can get hurt; and
• Negligently removing the paint cans from the truck.

Leslie consequently seeks unspecified monetary damages.

She is represented by attorney Marty Herring with Marty Herring & Associates in Houston.

Galveston County 405th District Court Judge Wayne Mallia is presiding over the case.

Case No. 12-cv-2152

GALVESTON – La Marque local Daniel Guidry is suing CenterPoint Energy Inc. after it reportedly harassed him for suffering an injury, recent court documents say.

Padgett

A lawsuit filed Oct. 23 in the Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division claims Guidry hurt his left foot off the job on July 23, 2011, and while he was on medical leave, the defendant began efforts to terminate him.

CEI hired Guidry in July 2006 as a C & M mechanic.

The suit explains the injury in question separated his left foot and rendered him permanently disabled, stating he spent time in the hospital and underwent serious injuries.

Upon Guidry’s return to duty, the complaint says, his co-workers and superiors treated him differently because of his supposed disability.

Guidry asserts the respondent coerced two co-workers into signing a letter that falsely accused him of talking on a cell phone while driving a company truck and texting while working in a gaseous atmosphere.

The documentation caused Guidry to suffer adverse employment actions of which he filed a human resources complaint.

He then sought assistance from his union only to be purportedly assaulted by his manager, the suit says.

Guidry shows said manager was convicted on assault charges, but the defendant still retained him and enabled the apparent harassment.

According to the original petition, more false accusations were made against the plaintiff.

Guidry’s work life was turned into “a living Hell” as the complainant faced mounting disciplinary action “for various and sundry reasons,” it states.

CEI’s reported misconduct eventually inflicted post-traumatic stress disorder upon Guidry, who is currently on sick leave and under his doctor’s orders at the time the subject litigation was initiated.

A jury trial is requested.

Attorney Thomas H. Padgett Jr. of Bellaire is representing Guidry.

Case No. 3:12-CV-313

GALVESTON – Sugar Land resident Esther F. Tarlo is suing Moody Gardens Inc. in response to a fall she took down some stairs at its premises two years ago, recent court documents say. 

A lawsuit filed Dec. 28 in Galveston County District Court shows Tarlo apparently injured herself while she and her grandson were about to watch a movie at the defendant’s IMAX theater on Jan. 1, 2011.

The suit explains that Tarlo went to the front entrance to get some 3-D glasses for her and her grandson when the subject event occurred.

According to the original petition, the plaintiff made her way toward the hallway leading to the theater’s entrance when she “fell over the carpet that was not installed properly.”

Tarlo adds she went down the stairs and hurt her ankle, knee and hip.

The alleged incident took place because the hallway “did not have any lighting so that a patron could see where they were walking,” the suit says.

The area where Tarlo supposedly injured herself was under renovation.

Moody Gardens is faulted for:

• Failing to provide adequate lighting;
• Failing to properly install the carpet;
• Failing to provide necessary and proper procedures;
• Failing to properly maintain and inspect the property;
• Failing to use due care in the design of the hallway; and
• Failing to warn Tarlo of the purportedly unsafe condition.

Consequently, the complainant seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.

She is represented by attorney John C. Osborne of Houston.

Case No. 12-CV-3185

GALVESTON – Local resident Steve Kovacevich has filed suit against Galveston locals Oscar and Georgia Barbin over a facial injury he sustained at their property more than six months ago.

Apffel

Recent court papers filed Jan. 2 in Galveston County District Court state that Kovacevich injured himself while performing work for the defendants on May 31, 2012.

The suit shows the plaintiff was in the process of installing a beam when a jack fell and struck him in the face.

Kovacevich says he was assisting Oscar Barbin and his supplies and materials for the task in question were provided by the respondents at the time of the subject event.

According to the original petition, Oscar Barbin was giving instructions to the complainant.

The Barbins are blamed for:

• Failing to provide proper equipment;
• Failing to warn of a dangerous defect;
• Failing to provide adequate supervision;
• Failing to provide adequate training; and
• Failing to provide adequate assistance.

Consequently, Kovacevich sues for severe injuries, mental and physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, physical impairment, disfigurement and lost wages.

A jury trial is requested.

Attorney Darrell A. Apffel with Bettison Doyle Apffel & Guarino PC in Galveston is representing the plaintiff.

Case No. 13-CV-0007

GALVESTON – A lawsuit resulting from a death apparently caused by a log falling from a sand dune has been transferred to federal court, recent court records show. 

Galveston County is the target of litigation arising from the Feb. 9, 2012, death of Lashaun Ray Lovejoy Huff.

The county submitted a notice of removal Dec. 20 to the Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division.

Former Texas residents Ashley Huff, Amanda Marsh and Robert Marsh claim the county is to blame for the falling log which killed Lashaun Huff and injured two of his companions on Crystal Beach.

The November 2012 suit states that the victims were walking east along the sand dunes near South Monkhouse Road, and just as they passed a large log that was laying on top one of the dunes, the sand underneath the 40-foot log caved in and caused it to shift and roll on top of them.

According to the original petition, the rolling log instantly killed Lashaun Huff while it pinned Robert Marsh’s arm and trapped Heather Davis face down in the sand.

Robert Marsh and Heather Davis apparently suffered nerve damage and were hospitalized.

Meanwhile, the county entered its original answer Dec. 17, citing sovereign immunity as a defense.

Attorney Barry Willey with the county’s legal department is the defendant’s lead counsel.

Case No. 12-CV-2637

GALVESTON – Claiming he was injured while catching balls at a batting cage, Glenn Pappe has filed a lawsuit.

Recent court documents filed Jan. 28 in Galveston County District Court claim an employee with Acrofit Gymnastics Houston Inc. distracted Pappe and caused him to get struck in the eye by a ball.

The suit shows the plaintiff was the first patron to arrive at the defendant’s premises on June, 2, 2012, stating he was the only one at the batting cages.

As he was using the pitching machine, one of the respondent’s workers yelled out to him to which his attention was taken away from the machine, the suit says.

An incoming ball then connected with Pappe’s left eye.

The complainant, who supposedly suffered a crushed orbit and damage to his nose and cheek, was taken to Clear Lake Regional Medical Center and subsequently sent to Houston Eye Associates for surgery.

Pappe insists the machine was “miscalibrated to the wrong speed and/or labeled incorrectly.”

Consequently, he sues for physical pain and suffering, impairment, loss of earning capacity and medical expenses.

Attorney Tom

Gehring

with the Law Office of Thomas J. Gehring PC in Austin is representing Pappe, and Galveston County 10th District Court Judge Kerry L. Neves is presiding over the case.

Case No. 13-CV-131

HOUSTON – An alleged shooting at a Houston apartment complex last year has prompted the venue’s security guard to file a lawsuit.

Thweatt

In court documents submitted Feb. 4 before Houston federal court, Eben Jacks claims he was hurt in the June 2012 incident and faults Venterra Realty Management Co. Inc.

Patrick O’Neal Spurlock, a former tenant at the Wilshire Place Apartments in Northwest Houston, reportedly fired at Jackson on June 27, 2012.

According to the suit, the plaintiff sustained injuries to his back and head as well as lost his right eye.

The alleged assailant also shot a resident and one of the complex’s maintenance workers.

Spurlock fled the scene in a stolen vehicle and was later killed in a shootout with the Houston Police Department, according to the suit.

Jacks was hospitalized for almost a month and underwent several weeks of rehabilitation afterwards, the suit says. Physicians performed surgical procedures on and around the affected eye and replaced it with a prosthetic.

The suit asserts that Wilshire Place failed to inform Jacks that Spurlock had been evicted and barred from the property.

A jury trial is requested.

Attorney L. Lee Thweatt with Terry & Thweatt PC in Houston is representing the plaintiff.

Case No. 4:13-CV-260

GALVESTON – Alleging her minor son was shot in the eye with an airsoft rifle almost two years ago, local resident Colleen Twing seeks damages.

Recent court papers filed Feb. 1 in Galveston County District Court claim Keire Tyler Gibson fired at Twing’s son on the afternoon of Feb. 20, 2011.

League City local Beverly Foley is a co-defendant in the case because the event in question reportedly occurred at her residence.

Twing explains that the child was playing with friends in an adjacent backyard prior to getting hit.

Meanwhile, Gibson was in a bedroom at Foley’s home and began shooting his gun from a window at the backyard fence, the suit says.

According to the original petition, one of the pellets struck Twing’s son in the left eye and caused blood to accumulate in the anterior chamber behind the cornea.

Afterwards, Twing rushed the child to the emergency room at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center.

She blames Foley for negligently supervising Gibson and allowing him to possess and negligently use the gun on her property.

“The defendant Foley did nothing to prevent [her] invitee, Keire Tyler Gibson, from engaging in this behavior,” the suit says.

A jury trial is requested.

Attorney Lucas C. Wilson of Georgetown is representing Twing and her son.

Galveston County 56th District Court Judge Lonnie Cox is presiding over the case.

Case No. 13-CV-169

GALVESTON – Moody Gardens Inc. formally denies responsibility for injuries allegedly sustained by a female guest at its IMAX Theater last year, recent court documents say.

An original answer was entered into Sugar Land resident Esther F. Tarlo’s lawsuit on Jan. 24, countering each and every one of the plaintiff’s allegations. 

In the original petition submitted Dec. 28, Tarlo claims she fell down the stairs near the entrance of the theater on Jan. 1, 2011.

Tarlo went to get some 3-D glasses for her and her grandson when she “fell over the carpet that was not installed properly,” according to the suit.

The plaintiff adds she hurt her ankle, knee and hip, stating the area where she injured herself was under renovation and “did not have any lighting so that a patron could see where they were walking.”

Moody Gardens insists the complainant was “negligent on the occasion” and the condition of the premises “did not pose an unreasonable risk of harm.”

Its rebuttal also says the defendant did not know about the condition.

Attorney Kevin B. Finkel with Hill & Finkel LLP in Houston is representing Moody Gardens.

Case No. 12-CV-3185

HOUSTON – Claiming she sustained “significant, life-altering” injuries while working at The Home Depot in Katy more than a year ago, Patti Darby has filed a lawsuit. 

Court papers filed Feb. 6 in Houston federal court allege a large steel entry door and four large carpet pad rolls fell on Darby at the store on Dec. 14, 2011.

Darby, who had worked 22 years for Home Depot, was working in the receiving department as a return-to-vendor associate prior to getting hurt.

She states that she just retrieved a small fiberglass ladder when she heard a noise and “was violently struck.”

“The force of the impact knocked her to the ground and caused her legs to spread out in a contorted fashion,” the suit says.

According to the original petition, the part of the receiving department where the event occurred was intended for defective and “to be returned” items.

The carpet pads were new merchandise that was erroneously placed and standing upright in storage racks while the large steel door was leaning against the racks, the suit states.

The plaintiff asserts the defendant “removed (and failed to replace) a cable that was being used to secure the carpet pads in the storage racks at some point prior to the incident in question.”

The original petition points out, Darby “was in immediate, excruciating pain, covered by the door and pads and unable to get up.”

The plaintiff was taken to Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital where she was confined for a week. Physicians diagnosed her with “multiple” fractures of the pelvis and sacrum, the suit says.

Darby adds she was hospitalized for another two weeks at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital in Sugar Land.

Home Depot fired her on Dec. 15, 2012, “due to her inability to physically perform her job duties.”

The original petition ultimately blames the respondent for negligence and premises and vicarious liabilities as well as evokes the writ of respondeat superior.

A jury trial is requested.

Attorney Mike Johanson with Johanson & Fairless LLP in Sugar Land is representing Darby.

Case No. 4:13-CV-304

GALVESTON – A local district judge has issued orders for substitute service into a Kemah homeowners association’s lawsuit against one of its directors, recent court records show.

Meade

Galveston County 122nd District Court Judge John Ellisor last week granted the orders in favor of the Kemah Village Property Owners Inc.’s motions targeting Donald Barras and Tyler Barras.

Donald Barras is the father of Jerry Barras, whom the homeowners association is suing for enjoying “unchecked control of every aspect of Kemah Village”, and Tyler Barras is the latter’s son.

Kemah Village asserts the men, along with a few of Jerry Barras’s business interests, benefitted from purported financial wrongdoing attributed to Jerry Barras in litigation launched last month.

Jerry Barras’s misdeeds, which the plaintiff claims the director tried to cover by blocking access to books and records, were discovered over the summer of 2012, according to the original petition.

The complainant explains that Tyler Barras was “no less than six” times served to no avail while Donald Barras was unsuccessfully served “no less than nine” times last month.

The motion against Tyler Barras shows a process server spoke to Jerry Barras at the former’s residence in question twice while the one against Donald Barras states he apparently was not home though his vehicle was seen in the driveway of his house.

Attorney Andrew K. Meade with Hawash Meade Gaston Neese and Cicack LLP in Houston is representing the plaintiff.

Case No. 13-CV-0038

GALVESTON – The defendants in a local man’s lawsuit over a facial injury have submitted their original answer.

Garcia

In court papers filed Jan. 29, Galveston residents Oscar and Georgia Barbin formally refute allegations fielded by Steve Kovacevich.

Kovacevich is suing the Barbins and their trust after an object fell on his face as he was performing work on their property on May 31, 2012.

According to the plaintiff, he was helping Oscar Barbin install a beam when a jack fell and struck him in the face.

The suit additionally points out that the defendants provided Kovacevich the supplies and materials he used for the task in question at the time of the subject event.

Oscar Barbin also gave the complainant instructions, the original petition says.

Meanwhile, the Barbins assert that they do not own the property where Kovacevich claims to have hurt himself.

They deny that their trust “is a proper party to this suit.”

Kovacevich brought the apparent injury onto himself and failed to mitigate it, the five-page answer claims.

It seeks to ensure if the plaintiff recovers medical expenses, they’re limited to “those amounts actually paid or incurred by or on [his] behalf.”

Attorney Christopher C. Garcia with Mills Shirley L.L.P. in Galveston is representing the defendants.

Case No. 13-CV-0007

GALVESTON – After she slipped and fell at a Galveston hotel almost two years ago, Margaret Foster pursues legal action. 

Foster is suing Fertitta Hospitality LLC, doing business as The San Luis Resort, Spa & Convention Center, in response to the alleged May 9, 2011, incident.

Recent court documents filed Feb. 13 in Galveston County District Court show Foster was at the defendant’s property for a court clerk training seminar.

On the first night of her stay, she slipped on the marble floor in front of a door, the suit says.

According to Foster, her fall was caused by puddles of water which were apparently the result of a leaking air vent.

She claims the respondent’s workers looked at the vent “on at least two occasions,” but failed to fix it.

“The defendant knew or should have known that a leaking air conditioning vent above a marble floor poised a serious risk of injury to its patrons,” the original petition says.

“Due to the slick surface, the plaintiff fell and was injured.”

Foster says she sustained injuries to her neck, back and shoulder, adding she required surgery and physical therapy.

Attorney Chance A. McMillan with Thurlow & Associates P.C. in Houston is representing the complainant, and Galveston County 56th District Court Judge Lonnie Cox is presiding over the case.

Case No. 13-CV-225

GALVESTON – Texas City resident Eva T. Warren has filed suit against Dr. Ian Reynolds and the Clear Lake Regional Medical Center over a reportedly unsuccessful procedure on her knee. 

A lawsuit filed Feb. 11 in Galveston County District Court states that three operations performed on the plaintiff’s right knee at CLRMC worsened the pain of which she complained.

Warren’s husband is a co-plaintiff in the case.

Court papers explain that the complainant went to Reynolds because her insurance carrier refused her choice of doctor.

A total right knee replacement was conducted at CLRMC on Dec. 14, 2010, which the suit asserts “did not go as planned.”

According to the original petition, Warren incurred fractures during the operation though her spouse was told afterwards she went into surgery with a broken tibia.

Warren shows she continued to have “immense” pain and her condition “was not improving,” stating she subsequently underwent additional procedures.

Her first choice for a surgeon revealed to her in April 2011 that the replacement “left her with an unstable knee, was improperly aligned and held in with a bunch of cement.”

“She did not receive the care and treatment she deserved while at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center and her condition deteriorated to the point that her next best option may be amputation,” the suit says.

Consequently, Warren seeks unspecified monetary damages.

Attorney Roy L. Warren with The Law Firm of Roy L. Warren in San Marcos is representing Warren and her husband.

Case No. 13-CV-199

GALVESTON – A January 2012 lawsuit arising from a collision involving a bicyclist recently came to a close. 

Galveston County jurors heard the case between plaintiff James Lovell and defendant Karen Phillips earlier this month and ruled in favor of Lovell.

Lovell sued Phillips in the Galveston County 405th District Court on Jan. 21, 2012. Lovell claimed Phillips knocked him off his bicycle near a League City grocery store on Sept. 8, 2011.

According to the original petition, Lovell was riding his bike to a friend’s house when Phillips struck him in front of Kroger’s along FM 518.

Lovell said he stopped at the store’s driveway just as Phillips made her way out of the parking lot. He claims Phillips motioned for him to cross in front of her vehicle, but then accelerated into him as he started to pedal.

According to the suit, the impact was so great “that Mr. Lovell was drug under Ms. Phillips’ vehicle approximately 15 feet into the street.”

Phillips denied Lovell’s allegations.

The case went to trial on Feb. 7 and concluded the next day.

A representative with the law firm that represented Lovell told The Southeast Texas Record that the jury awarded the plaintiff a total of $41,600 in damages with the amount reduced by 50 per cent for contributory negligence.

The plaintiff’s verdict was the first for new Galveston County 405th District Court Judge Michelle Slaughter, who assumed the judgeship by defeating the court’s original seat-holder, Wayne Mallia, in last year’s primary runoff elections.

Case No. 12-CV-0096

GALVESTON – A Collin County woman filed Galveston County’s first lawsuit over the recent Carnival Triumph disaster, recent court records show.

Whitlock

Kathy Marie Armstrong was among 4,000 passengers and crew stranded in the Gulf of Mexico after a fire in the engine room knocked out power on the cruise ship. The ship had to be towed to port, a trip that took four days and turned Armstrong’s vacation into a “horrifying and excruciating” ordeal.

Armstrong filed suit against Carnival Corp., doing business as Carnival Cruise Lines, on Feb. 20 in Galveston County District Court.

The first suit filed by a Carnival Triumph passenger was submitted by a Texas woman in Florida, where Carnival is based, the day the boat returned to port. A proposed class action was filed by a Florida law firm a few days later. Armstrong’s is the first suit over the debacle to be filed in Galveston County, where the cruise originated on Feb. 7.

Armstrong claims she was “forced” to endure deplorable, unsafe and unsanitary conditions, including but not limited to, “sweltering temperatures, lack of power and air conditioning, lack of hot or running water and lack of working toilets.”

Tug boats eventually arrived to help haul the crippled Triumph to a port in Mobile, Ala., and according to the suit, the plaintiff “feared for her life and safety, under constant threat of contracting serious illness by the raw sewage filling the vessel, and suffering actual or some bodily injury” during the slow journey back to the mainland U.S.

“The vessel listed sharply several times, causing human waste to spill out of non-functioning toilets, flood across the vessel’s floors and halls and drip down the vessel’s walls,” the suit says.

“The plaintiff was forced to endure unbearable and horrendous odors on the filthy and disabled vessel, and wade through human feces in order to reach food lines where the wait was counted in hours, only to receive rations of spoiled food.”

The ship disembarked in Mobile the night of Feb. 14.

Armstrong labels the Triumph “a floating toilet, a floating Petri dish [and] a floating Hell,” insisting the event in question inflicted physical injuries and “immense, incalculable” mental anguish upon her.

A jury trial is requested.

Attorney Megan A. Whitlock of Johnson, Trent, West & Taylor LLP in Houston is representing Armstrong.

Galveston County 56th District Court Judge Lonnie Cox is presiding over the case.

Case No. 13-CV-258

GALVESTON – A Round Rock man claims he injured himself at Moody Gardens last year and has filed suit, recent court documents say.

The Aquarium at Moody Gardens

In a lawsuit filed Feb. 21 in Galveston County District Court, Lon Ganster blames Moody Gardens for a fall he purportedly took at its aquarium facility on July 1, 2012.

Ganster and his children were in the midst of a visit to the Galveston attraction just as the event in question occurred.

According to the suit, inadequate lighting made it difficult for the complainant to see the floor.

“As he took a step forward, because of the poor lighting, he was unable to see that level of the floor changed and that there were steps ahead,” the original petition says.

“The steps were not lit or marked in any way, and as a result, the plaintiff fell to the floor and sustained serious injuries.”

Ganster says the alleged incident inflicted “serious” injuries upon him, “particularly to his right knee.”

He blames the respondent for failing to cordon off the area in question and failing to provide hand railings along the stairs in the area he asserts where he hurt himself.

Consequently, the complainant seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.

Attorney Michael E. Grimes with Michael E. Grimes P.C. in Round Rock is representing Ganster.

Galveston County 405th District Court Judge Michelle Slaughter is presiding over the case.

Case No. 13-CV-261

GALVESTON – Galveston County Court at Law No. 2 Judge Barbara Roberts approved a motion for continuance that was recently submitted in a Galveston woman’s head injury lawsuit, recent court records show.

Garcia

The Feb. 18 order resets the scheduled trial date for the suit between Kayla Langford, John Eanes and Galveston Automotive Professionals Inc. for March 25.

Langford is suing the island automotive business and Eanes in response to a head injury she supposedly sustained during a visit on Dec. 14, 2010.

According to the original petition, the plaintiff went to make a delivery at the business and entered the facilities through an industrial metal garage door, which she claims was the only door to access or exit the premises.

“While she was exiting, plaintiff Kayla Langford was suddenly and without warning struck in the head by the industrial metal garage door knocking her to the ground, causing a severe laceration to her head,” the suit says.

“The garage door was automatically closed by a garage door opener pushed by an employee of the business that was physically inside of the building.”

The defendants formally denied Langford’s allegations.

All parties requested the continuance earlier this month so they could conduct further discovery, designate experts and conduct mediation, asserting there “has been limited paper discovery and only one deposition taken to date.”

“The parties are attempting to resolve this matter short of trial, but have been unsuccessful to date,” the Feb. 5 motion says.

Attorney Christopher C. Garcia with Mills Shirley L.L.P. in Galveston is representing the defendants.

Cause No. 67,096