A small municipality in the Laurentians has just been ordered to pay $100,000 to one of its citizens who broke both legs during a fall in a corridor of city hall.
Like every Wednesday, Marguerite Guindon headed to the Huberdeau library, located on the second floor of the municipal building, to participate in her knitting club on December 4, 2019.
Once at the town hall, Mme Guindon climbed the stairs “slowly and carefully” holding the banister with his right hand and his cane with his left. But once on the landing, her foot got stuck in the mat that is permanently there and she was thrown to the ground a distance of five feet.
She was transported by ambulance to Saint-Jérôme hospital, where she was diagnosed with fractures in both femurs and a torn tendon in her left hand.
The retired education worker, who was hospitalized for 19 days, had to undergo several surgeries. She also returned to the operating table in 2022 to relieve pain in one of her legs.
Mme Guindon is now limited in her daily activities. She is able to walk unassisted, but for short distances, and becomes tired quickly.
Dangerous installations
The lady, now aged 69, therefore criticizes the municipality for having tolerated “the dangerous installation of a carpet” and for having failed “to provide the premises with a running ramp long enough to compensate [les] risk of falling.
Municipal employees testified that they had never previously witnessed any incidents with the mat, which was not fixed to the ground, nor any complaints regarding the layout of the premises.
However, this carpet was immediately removed after the accident at the heart of the dispute and has never been put back since.
The municipality of Huberdeau defended itself by affirming that the fall had been caused by “a weakness of the lower limbs of Mme Guindon and that this weakness is attributable to a pre-existing condition from which she suffers, namely multiple sclerosis.
“The Municipality has the obligation to ensure that this access is accessible in a safe manner for all people, regardless of their age and condition,” judge Annie Breault ruled last week at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse. .
The magistrate thus awarded $40,000 in equipment to Mme Guindon so that she can adequately adapt her house to her new reality and $60,000 in non-pecuniary damages.
The mayor of Huberdeau, Benoit Chevalier, said he was “a little disappointed” with the judgment, specifying however that there is “no winner in this story, since it is always unfortunate when someone gets injured “. The Municipality does not intend to appeal the judgment.
Marguerite Guindon’s lawyer, Me Jean Morissette did not wish to comment.