CONWAY, S.C. (WBTW) — A Chesterfield woman is suing Coastal Carolina University after she claims she tripped and fell on a sidewalk.
The lawsuit, filed last month in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Common Pleas, claims that Pauline Harrison was a “business invitee” who was on the campus on April 24, 2019. She was walking on the sidewalk when she tripped and fell on a piece of raised concrete.
She was “seriously injured,” according to the lawsuit, which did not detail the specifics of her injuries.
Afterward, she had to pay for hospital bills, doctor bills, eye doctor care, the cost of replacing her glasses and medication, and will have future medical expenses, according to the lawsuit.
A Pauline Harrison owns Maximize Transportation LLC, registered in North Charleston, according to the South Carolina Secretary of State’s business entities search. The business was incorporated last month.
The fall led to “extensive pain, mental anguish, suffering and discomfort,” along with “disability for a period of time,” permanent injuries, emotional trauma, inability to carry on normal activities, loss of an enjoyment of life and financial loss, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that CCU had a duty to “use reasonable care to discover persons and avoid injury to persons carrying on activities upon the land, and to use reasonable care to warn persons of any concealed dangerous conditions or activities which are known to the Defendant, or of any change in the condition of the premises which may be dangerous to persons, and which persons may reasonably be expected to discover.”
After inviting her, CCU should have warned her of the “‘raised concrete’ condition in the sidewalk as it were a concealed dangerous condition of the premises that the Defendant knew or should have known about and that a licensee, like the Plaintiff, may reasonably be expected to discover,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also claims that the university didn’t properly train and supervise staff and hired negligent, unqualified and unsupervised staff.
Documents attached to the filing include a letter from Coastal Beach Claims, Inc., which states that the Insurance Reserve Fund, CCU’s insurer, said that there “was no liability on the part of Coastal Carolina University.” Harrison’s claim was denied.
The lawsuit requests a jury trial. Harrison is asking for “actual and punitive damages in the appropriate amount.”
A spokesperson with CCU said the university is unable to comment on legal matters.