DALLAS (Legal Newsline) – There is more bad news for a man who was minding his own business in a Dallas hospital when a pane of glass fell on his head.
A Texas appeals court on March 4 ruled for Parkland Health & Hospital System in a lawsuit brought by Lidia and Jefrey Bravo, finding the hospital did not have actual knowledge of the defect that knocked the glass out of place.
Jefrey sat in the Parkland Hospital lobby, waiting to visit a friend, in January 2018 when a large pane from a second-story walkway fell on him from overhead.
Parkland successfully convinced the Fifth District that it did not have knowledge of the defect, a necessity for it to be found liable. Without knowledge, Parkland could argue it was entitled to governmental immunity.
“In an effort to have us infer such notice, (the Bravos) cite to the two pages that appear to be excerpts of the contract Parkland and its construction manager and to a regulation requiring an inspection of the premises before the premises was opened to the public,” Justice Ken Molberg wrote.
“Neither item establishes or allows us to reasonably infer that Parkland had actual knowledge of the allegedly dangerous condition at issue here before Bravo’s incident, however.
“While the two pages apparently excerpted from Parkland’s contract with its construction manager allowed Parkland to subject the construction project materials to routine quality assurance tests, there is no indication that the premise defect alleged in this case was subjected to any such tests and revealed any dangerous conditions.”
There is also no evidence that Parkland became aware of the premises defect through any inspection required under Texas law, Molberg wrote.