Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
A man’s viral video where he jokingly claims he fell and will sue for millions of dollars has gained traction online, but the video highlights serious safety concerns that can have long-lasting effects for actual victims.
In the video, which has over 115,000 likes and hundreds of comments and shares, the man can be seen admitting that he rolled his ankle at the edge of a sidewalk where a deep sinkhole had been concealed beneath artificial grass.
“I rolled my ankle right here and am asking for $36 million from the city,” he said in a caption on the screen. “Not because I fell, but because I spilled my coffee that was $9.”
As the video goes on, the man steps into the hole, showing that it goes deep into the sidewalk. In full, the man’s entire foot and the majority of his calf were underground.
Jokes aside, some commenters understood the gravity of the situation. One person expressed concerns over the potential for injury.
“Honestly, it definitely needs to be reported,” they wrote. “What if someone carrying a baby did the same thing and, instead of dropping coffee, they dropped their kid?”
Another person was shocked at the state of the sinkhole and said that a similar situation happened to her grandmother who was injured in San Francisco and she received compensation.
A separate commenter spoke about their chronic pain from a seemingly simple fall.
“I broke my ankle in a drip in the ground and now have chronic pain and can’t run,” they said. My apartment complex still hasn’t fixed the dip in the ground. I should have sued.”
And these individuals are correct – falls can have serious consequences. Approximately 8.5 million people were treated in emergency rooms across the country for fall-related injuries in 2022, according to the National Safety Council. Every year, tens of thousands of people die from falls at home or work. And it isn’t just an issue that affects elderly people. In data from the Public Library of Science shows that an estimated 3.2 million fall-related injuries occur among people aged 18 to 44. Children and young adults, anywhere from 1 to 19 years old, account for nearly 8,000 fall-related emergency room visits daily.
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners is a top Florida personal injury law firm with over 48 years of experience litigating cases in a wide array of practice areas such as cruise ship injuries, medical malpractice, negligent security and premises liability cases. n Florida, private property owners and management companies have a legal duty to take reasonable steps to protect visitors and guests from foreseeable harm. This duty includes maintaining the premises in a reasonably safe condition, conducting regular inspections, and addressing or warning about known or reasonably discoverable hazards. When they breach this duty—by failing to correct or warn of dangerous conditions—they may be held liable for resulting injuries under premises liability law.
Florida law requires property owners to exercise reasonable care in preventing injuries to invitees, which include patrons, employees, and others lawfully on the premises. A failure to maintain safe conditions or address known hazards can result in liability for damages suffered by those injured on the property.
Applying these principles to public property, cities and municipalities similarly have a duty to maintain public sidewalks in a reasonably safe condition for pedestrians. This includes routine inspections, timely repairs of known hazards, and the placement of warnings when immediate repair is not feasible. Common sidewalk hazards may include cracked or uneven pavement, raised slabs due to tree roots, missing pavers, large holes, accumulated debris, or other obstructions.
If a city knew or should have known about such a dangerous condition and failed to act within a reasonable timeframe—or failed to warn the public of the danger—it may be held liable for resulting injuries, subject to the limitations of sovereign immunity under Florida law.
At Leesfield & Partners, our attorneys have handled hundreds of similar cases over the years and are dedicated to securing the best possible outcome for each client.
Previous Cases
The firm represented a woman, 62, who attempted to grab toilet paper from an overhead pallet at a warehouse store. Instead of being able to grab the product she wished to purchase, the entire shrink-wrapped pallet fell on her. As a result, she suffered multiple, serious leg fractures including the shattering of the upper part of her shinbone on both sides, a clean break just under the knee and snapping of her fibula.
With no warning signs or barriers to prevent customers from accessing the merchandise, and with the store knowing customers often did this, our client was awarded $1,007,000 at trial.
In a tragic case involving a child, the firm obtained a $1 million settlement. The child in that case was hit by a falling lobster trap that was displayed at a store. Asa result of the injury, the child was left with significant brain damage.
In a case handled by Partner Justin B. Shapiro, the firm secured a $525,000 settlement for a special education teacher and avid walker who had a terrible fall due to an unpaved steppingstone at a townhome community.
The pain from her severe and gruesome ankle fractures has left her unrecognizable to loved ones as the spirited and energetic woman she was before the incident. Her injuries inhibit her from doing the things she once took great joy in, such as long walks with her husband or hours on her feet teaching and interacting with her students.
Trial Attorney Evan Robinson recently obtained a six-figure recovery for a woman who shattered her hip at a popular Florida tourist attraction. In that case, the property management company failed to ensure that gravel, meant to keep the area around a steep walkway level, was in place. Without this safety measure, our client lost her balance and fell violently to the concrete ground.
