Plaintiff nets nothing after jury faults her for injuries

A woman who slipped on a church’s steps won a $10,000 verdict but took home no damages after the panel found her 90 percent at fault and insurance payments she had already received were deducted from the award.

Kimberly Henderson, 56, slipped on icy steps and broke her ankle at St. Charles Presbyterian Church in St. Charles in 2013. A torn tendon and nerve damage were among her other injuries, and she went through two surgeries, according to her lead attorney, John Guletz of Rossiter & Boock. Henderson was at the church because she was a caregiver to an elderly woman who attended the church. The petition was filed in May 2013. She claimed the church was negligent in failing to clear all entrances and provide proper lighting.

Based on pretrial communications, it was evident the defendant felt confident about taking the case to trial. Henderson demanded $200,000 to settle the case and then $150,000, according to defense lawyer Brandon Copeland of Brown & James. St. Charles Presbyterian Church gave no counter-offer to avoid trial.

The unanimous verdict on Jan. 23 in St. Charles Circuit Court was in part due to evidence showing Henderson could have used other entrances that had been cleared of ice, Copeland said. She also admitted she might have contributed to her injuries, he said.

“In her deposition the Plaintiff admitted that she wasn’t really looking down at the steps before she slipped and if she had been, she ‘probably’ would have seen ice,” Copeland said. “In addition, she admitted that she was aware of freezing rain/ice in the area that morning, and she saw other entrances that had been salted and cleared.”

Guletz attributes the verdict amount and large allocation of fault to Henderson to jurors second-guessing his client’s judgment.

“It’s easy for people to think they would be looking out for ice,” he said. Henderson, of St. Peters, has been an elementary school library aide as well as a caregiver. She still has pain from the accident, he said.