UNIVERSAL LAWSUIT REPORT

WIGNALL, MICHAEL v. UNIVERSAL CITY

Date Filed: 9/21/2015

Plaintiff Residence: Unknown

Accident Date: May 20, 2015

Alleged Accident Location: Royal Pacific Hotel located at 6300 Hollywood Way, Orlando, Orange County, FL. Somewhere near the boat, boat ramp, and dock.

Alleged Accident Facts: The plaintiff alleged that he “fell off the boat ramp while disembarking the ferry boat.”

Liability Allegations: The plaintiff alleged the following:

• Defendant, UNIVERSAL by and through its agent, servants and/or employees acting within the scope and course of such agency, service or employment, carelessly and negligently operated said boat and ramp.”
• Defendant, UNIVERSAL, was negligent and breached its duty of care owed to the Plaintiff, WIGNALL, by:
  • a) Creating and/or maintaining a dangerous condition in the premises under its care, custody and control by allowing the boat ramp to flip over while Plaintiff, WIGNALL was disembarking; b) Failing to warn the Plaintiff, WIGNALL, of the existence of a hazard associated with disembarking the ferry boat via a moving ramp under its care, custody and control; c) Failing to eliminate or correct a dangerous condition in the premises under its care, custody and control; and d) Failing to instruct or assist Plaintiff, WIGNALL, on the use of the ramp while using an assisted mobility device.
• Defendant, UNIVERSAL, regularly conducted a negligent mode of operation, such that the condition they created and caused, as described above, presented an unreasonable risk of harm to business invitees such as Plaintiff, WIGNALL.

MARSHALL, ANDREA v. UNIVERSAL CITY

Date Filed: 9/15/2015

Plaintiff Residence: Marietta, Georgia

Accident Date: October 31, 2014

Alleged Accident Location: Universal at Halloween Horror Nights

Alleged Accident Facts: A light fixture fell “striking Plaintiff in the head.”

Liability Allegations: Defendant breached the duty owed to Plaintiff as a business invitee, by committing one or more of the following acts or omissions:

• (a) Negligently failing to maintain or adequately maintain the area in and around the premises, by allowing the dangerous condition to exist at the time Plaintiff was in the area; (b) Negligently failing to inspect or adequately inspect the area in and around the Defendant’s premises to determine whether the dangerous condition existed at the time Plaintiff was in the area; (c) Negligently failing to warn or adequately warn Plaintiff of the dangerous condition when Defendant knew or should have known of its existence and when Plaintiff was unaware of said dangerous condition; (d) Negligently failing to correct, or adequately correct the dangerous condition when Defendant knew or should have known of its existence; (e) Negligently failing to have adequate staff on duty and/or assigned to the task of inspecting the premises for dangerous conditions; (f) Negligently failing to provide a safe and dry means of ingress and egress for Plaintiff upon said premises; (g) Negligently failing to train and/or inadequately training its employees to inspect the premises for dangerous conditions; (h) Negligently failing to follow its own corporate policy regarding the dangerous condition; and, (i) Negligently failing to act reasonably under the circumstances.

KENNEDY, ANDREW v. UNIVERSAL CITY

Date Filed: 9/15/2015

Plaintiff Residence: Allen County, Indiana

Alleged Accident Date: July 29, 2014

Alleged Accident Location: Universal City Walk

Alleged Accident Facts: Plaintiff fell down the full flight of stairs due to an expansion joint in the staircase that caused him to trip. The multi-flight staircase led from the cinema to the ground level public restrooms.

Liability Allegations:

Defendant, UNIVERSAL, as owner and operator of the subject premises, had a duty to the public and specifically to the Plaintiff to operate and maintain the subject premises in a reasonably safe condition commensurate with the business conducted, a duty to train its employees in safety procedures, and a duty to safely maintain the premises, along with a duty warn of hidden dangers. Defendant, UNIVERSAL, breached this duty of reasonable care owed to Plaintiff by carelessly and negligently:

1. Failing to provide and train its employees and/or other contractual services to maintain all public thoroughfares by vigilant patrol so as to prevent falls and other injuries on the premises, when it know or should have known of the propensity for, and dangerous aspects of, substances, including expansion joint design, from falling onto the floors; and/or
2. Failing to have policies and procedures in place so that prompt and adequate actions could be taken when the floors were compromised by dangerous substances; and/or
3. Failing to supervise its employees in implementing its policies and procedures; and/or
4. Failing to follow its own policies and procedures; and/or
5. Failing to have in place an adequate reporting system in the event of dangerous floor conditions so that they could be quickly remedied and/or warnings placed; and/or;
6. Failing to have in place safety mats in the area where it was likely that dangerous substances could exist on the floor.
7. Failing to regularly inspect and repair the stairs and expansion joints.
8. Failing to provide adequate lighting.
9. Failing to provide adequate stair rails.

Other pleadings of interest: There is a motion to approve division of fees by the lawyers for the Plaintiff who sued for injuries at the Universal Park in Orlando. The Florida Bar Rules permit fee divisions as a standard rule of 25% and there is a standard approved fee. To go beyond the split in the attorney’s fees or to charge above the approved standard fee is sometimes the reason for these motions. The actual facts are not alleged here.

See: NOTICE OF EX- PARTE HEARING ON VERIFIED PETITION FOR COURT APPROVAL DIVISION OF FEES

ANDERSON, ANGELA v. UNIVERSAL CITY

Date Filed: 9/11/2015

Plaintiff Residence: Orange County, Florida.

Alleged Accident Date: August 3 or 4, 2015

Alleged Accident Location: Universal Orlando Parking Lot

Alleged Accident Facts: The plaintiff went to Universal Studios to attend a concert. She paid $37.50 to attend this concert and she paid $5.00 to park her vehicle in the parking lot located within Universal Studios. After walking back to her vehicle, the plaintiff was violently attacked in the parking lot located within Universal Studios, fracturing her wrist.

Note: This is a case alleging negligent security. The plaintiff believed that Universal had a duty to provide a reasonably safe premise, that Universal knew or should have known, of the risk of criminal activities and attacks on persons at Universal Studios, and that Universal knew, or should have known, that criminal acts at Universal Studios, and in the surrounding area, posed a grave threat to the physical safety and well-being of persons in the foreseeable zone of risk entering and leaving Universal Studios.

Therefore, the plaintiff believed that Universal breached a duty owed to her as a guest by failing to:

• hire and retain appropriately trained security guards;
• provide adequate and reasonable physical security;
• employ and deploy guards in sufficient numbers at Universal Studios;
• properly evaluate and address criminal activity in or around Universal Studios;
• employ and/or develop adequate or reasonable security guidelines/protocols;
• develop and employ reporting procedures to address security inadequacies;
• warn its invitees, business invitees, guests and other invitees, of foreseeable criminal activity in or around Universal Studios;
• provide reasonably expected security guard services to deter criminal activity;
• prevent criminal activity at Universal Studios;
• properly and reasonably supervise its agents, employees, and/or borrowed servants;
• monitor the effectiveness and sufficiency of the security plan at Universal Studios; and
• maintain Universal Studios in a reasonably safe condition.

PRIVILEGE LOG
Universal was trying to keep out video clips from Universal surveillance cameras taken on August 4, 2015 at approximately 9 pm.

Sep 15 BROWN, CHRISTINE et al. v. UNIVERSAL CITY

CHRISTINE BROWN and BOBBY BROWN v. UNIVERSAL CITY DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS LTD

Date Filed: 9/1/2015

Plaintiff Residence: Polk County, FL

Alleged Accident Date: September 04, 2011

Alleged Accident Location: Universal Orlando

Alleged Accident Facts: The plaintiff slipped and fell on a bridge that was slippery after a rain, causing her to fall down hard on her right knee and she then fell back on her back, sustaining severe bodily injury. There were no warning signs on the bridge advising that the bridge would be slippery when wet, or moss or algae buildup on the bridge. There were no slip resistance materials, i.e. adhesive pavement strips on the bridge to help prevent any slip and fall accidents of the patrons.

Analysis: The statute of limitations in FL

DISCLAIMER
These are Case Descriptions and excerpts of documents filed in actual Court.  Nothing in this website or asserted by Normand law or any of its lawyers or agents involved in the website asserts anything about the truth of the allegations made in pleadings or case information obtained from the Office of the Clerk Of Court or by the Parties about anything retrieved from the case documents.  Remember lawsuits are just allegations and in the USA we are all innocent until proven guilty. Normand law provides these documents pursuant to the First Amendment of the United States and the Florida Sunshine Act as a dissemination of public records so that the Public and consumers can be informed about litigation related to theme parks and so they can understand the process.  Read, Learn, Enjoy.

At the time of posting these cases were all pending unless otherwise indicated.  The cases may have been dismissed, settled or Tried or otherwise is no longer pending as of the date of this posting.  Consult the Orange County Clerk of Court for updates and status or we are happy to assist you with information related to Universal Studios Orlando or Universal Islands of Adventure theme park accident or Orlando theme park injury claims.