Kathleen Johnson and Rachelle Veikune win defense jury verdict for retailer.

TAM attorneys Kathleen Johnson and Rachelle Veikune won a defense verdict in a Denver jury trial that had been continued several times due to COVID.  The case involved claimed physical injuries as the result of interaction with a shopping cart mechanism on a retailer’s premises.  The Plaintiff’s theory was that the retailer’s employee, a special needs adult, could not be trained to do his job and created a “dangerous condition” to shoppers.  The employer strongly defended its practice of hiring and training persons with differently-abled learning pathways as a point of pride in its employee ranks.

Prior to trial the court ruled in TAM’s client’s favor that the Plaintiff failed to disclose certain experts in support of her case, which would govern the arguments made at trial.  After almost a week of evidence, the jury quickly returned a verdict for the defense, finding that the retailer’s employment of special needs individuals was not a “dangerous condition.”  The court awarded TAM’s client its fees and litigation costs as the prevailing party.

The case, 2020CV32090, was tried from February 14-17, 2022, before Judge A. Bruce Jones.