Incident Date - 4/13/92; Suit Filed - 1993;

TRIAL - 9/95

Plaintiff, Patricia Edwards, a mid-forties female, fell as she was skating in the aisle at Defendant skating center on April 13, 1992. As a result of the fall, she sustained an undisplaced fracture to the ankle. She alleged that she fell due to a dangerous/defective condition in the floor surface of the aisle. At trial, she acknowledged upon cross-examination that she spoke to both a friend of hers and Defendant's doorman following her alleged injury and failed to make any statement indicating her fall was a result of a defect in the floor substance in the aisleway. The jury returned a verdict of No Cause of Action in favor of Defendant.

Incident Date - 2/23/92; Suit Filed - 1994;

TRIAL - 8/95

The minor Plaintiff, Cynthia Chapman, fell in the aisle at Midland Roll-Arena during an "All Night Skate". She alleged Defendant was negligent in allowing skaters who had become tired at approximately midnight to pile skates in the aisle over which she purportedly tripped and fell. She sustained a bimalleolar fracture of the ankle requiring open reduction/internal fixation. Several of Plaintiff's friends testified in her favor, one of whom attempted to change her testimony to favor Plaintiff at trial which was inconsistent with her testimony at deposition. This witness was successfully impeached in front of the jury and became very emotional when recanting her trial testimony. Defendant's witnesses demonstrated that the program was properly supervised and any alleged skates left unattended in the aisle could have only been present for a brief amount of time. The jury returned a No Cause of Action in favor of Defendant.

Incident Date - 12/1/91; Suit Filed - 1993;

TRIAL - 11/95

Plaintiff Wawrzyniak, a mid-fifties engineer with Chrysler, fell and sustained a fracture to the wrist of his dominant hand during a Sunday evening adult skate at Great Skate. He had been attending the adult class for a number of weeks prior to his injury. He alleged Defendant was negligent in allowing a roof leak to drip water onto the skating surface for which Defendant had placed a bucket surrounded by pylons to demarcate the area of the leak. He did not slip in the water but contended that he tripped over one of the pylons while skating backwards. During cross-examination, he acknowledged (as he had done at his deposition) that the pylons surrounding the bucket catching leaking water had never moved during the entire evening he was there. He was aware of their presence and simply failed to maintain a proper observation of his intended direction of travel. The jury returned a verdict of No Cause of Action in favor of Defendant.

Incident Date - 2/1/92; Suit Filed - 1994;

SUMMARY DISPOSITION GRANTED - May 17, 1995;

Plaintiff Appealed - Affirmed 7/97; on Rehearing, Reversed 3/98. See 1997 Case Summaries

Plaintiff, Lee Dale, a mid-forties male, attended a Saturday afternoon skating program at Detroit Roller Wheels with his girlfriend, Karen Jones, on February 1, 1992. He rented skates. He claims the rental skates were defective in that they were missing the toe stops. Plaintiff, however, did not realize this until he had been skating for some time and a youngster cut in front of him causing Mr. Dale to (allegedly) make an effort to stop by using the toe stop which he then contends he learned for the first time was missing. As a result of the alleged toe stop missing, he was not able to stop, collided with the youngster who cut in front of him, and fell sustaining his claimed injuries. The Trial Court granted Defendant's Motion for Summary Disposition pursuant to the Roller Skating Safety Act, MCLA 445.1725 finding that Plaintiff's fall was a result of a collision with another skater (irrespective of the precipitating event) and, therefore, Defendant was entitled to Judgment as a matter of law. Plaintiff appealed.

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