Woman sues restaurant in SRP over ankle injury

Complainant said she bumped into concrete bricks that were allegedly left unattended on the parking lot when she was about to dine in the restaurant

A WOMAN from Talisay City has filed a P1-million damage suit against a floating restaurant in Cebu City over allegedly unattended concrete bricks on the parking lot that caused her to break her right ankle in October this year.

Petitioner Mercedita Cabading, of Barangay Dumlog, filed the complaint for damages and attorney’s fees against the restaurant before the Regional Trial Court in Cebu City.

Cabading said she broke her right foot and had it operated. She accidentally bumped into the concrete bricks that were allegedly left unattended on the parking lot when she and her daughters were about to dine in the restaurant last Oct. 9, 2016.

“Sadly, (the restaurant), when it allowed either deliberately or inadvertently, a concrete bar/ brick to lie unattended on the ground of its parking space, failed to perform the required degree of care that a reasonable merchant or person is expected to perform,” read Cabading’s complaint prepared by her lawyer Neil Aaron Balili.

The complaint was raffled to Judge Ma. Lynna Adviento, of the RTC Branch 58.

Officials of the company that runs the restaurant have yet to issue a statement on the complaint. Sun.Star Cebu tried but failed to get a statement from the firm’s executives as of last night.

Cabading, her two daughters and their boyfriends went to the restaurant to dine last Oct. 9, 2016.

Daughters

Cabading’s daughters and their boyfriends alighted first from the vehicle and walked toward the restaurant.

They then heard a thud followed by the sound of Cabading moaning in pain. One of her daughters helped her stand up.

Cabading told her daughter that she bumped into a brick that was left unattended in the restaurant’s parking lot.

Cabading was rushed to the hospital, where her attending doctor discovered that she broke her right foot.

Last Oct. 26, 2016, Cabading underwent an operation to fix her fractured ankle. Surgeons later installed cannulated screws and fibular plates in her ankle.

Cabading’s daughters said they informed the restaurant manager about the incident but got no response.

Cabading now depends on crutches, wall handles and surface cushions to move around their house.

Her doctor reportedly told her that it might take a year before she could carry considerable weight and take on strenuous activities.

Due to her condition, Cabading said she could not attend to her homebased catering services, store and family activities. She hires a professional assistant to attend to her needs at home.

Safety

The petitioner said that the restaurant had the duty to safety maintain its parking space being used by its clients.

“The place was poorly lit...the injury could have been prevented or minimized had proper lighting been installed in the area,” the complaint read. Cabading said that unattended concrete bricks on the parking lot caused her “misery.”

The petitioner asked the court to order the restaurant to pay her P500,000 as actual and compensatory damages for the medical and consequential expenses.

She also sought for P500,000 moral damages for “all the anxiety and stress” she suffered and another P50,000 as attorney’s fees.