STAUNTON – A Valentine’s Day tumble that injured a woman last year at a hospital fitness center has resulted in a $10 million lawsuit, court records show.
Filed Jan. 13 in Augusta County Circuit Court, the plaintiff, listed as Tiffany Andrews, was at the Augusta Health Fitness Center in Fishersville on Feb. 14, 2024, when she reportedly tripped and fell. The defendant is listed as Augusta Health Care Inc., which operates the fitness center.
The lawsuit claims the roof to the fitness center was damaged at the time and said water would leak onto the facility’s indoor track when it rained, creating a tripping hazard. Andrews, unaware the roof was reportedly leaking, was running on the track when she “tripped and fell on the damaged portion of the indoor track,” the lawsuit states.
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The lawsuit said Augusta Health owed a duty to patrons of the facility to keep the “premises free from dangerous hazards of which it knew or should have known,” and said the hospital was negligent because it allegedly didn’t take adequate precautions and failed to warn of any hazardous conditions.
Andrews said there weren’t any warning signs, according to the lawsuit, and was not told of the reported hazard on the track.
After a “hard” fall to the ground, attorneys said the result was that Andrews suffered or “will incur” debilitating physical and permanent injuries, health impacts, pain, mental anguish, “disfigurement and deformity and associated humiliation and embarrassment,” medical expenses and a loss of earning capacity.
“These losses are either permanent or continuing and Plaintiff will suffer losses in the future,” the lawsuit said.
Andrews, who is being represented by the Broughton Law Firm in Henrico, is demanding a jury trial while seeking $10 million in compensatory damages and costs.
An Augusta Health spokesperson did not reply Monday to a News Leader email seeking comment. An email to the Broughton Law firm also went unanswered.
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Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at [email protected]. You can also follow him on X (formerly Twitter)
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