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Woman sues CPA for mishap
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Posted on Jun 16 2005
A worker has sued the Commonwealth Ports Authority and a company operating a duty-free shop at the Saipan International Airport due to an accident where she fell to the ground and broke a bone on her left foot in October last year.
In a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court, Julie Degayo accused the CPA of negligence in maintaining the airport in a reasonably safe condition.
An employee of DFS Saipan, Ltd., whose identity she has yet to ascertain, allegedly escorted her to an unsafe portion of the airport last Oct. 15. Degayo also sued the company and the employee, saying that they failed to warn her about the dangerous condition.
Degayo wants the court to assess monetary damages against the defendants and award them to her.
David G. Banes, Degayo’s lawyer, narrated that she went to the airport to deliver souvenir items to DFS, which the store would sell at the duty-free shop. Degayo, an employee of Pacifica Isle Treasures, went to the check-in area, which was closed. CPA officers instructed her to wait near the arrival area.
The DFS employee then arrived and instructed Degayo to follow her. Banes said the employee led Degayo to a door with the identification mark “A-04,” which was posted with a sign that identified the area beyond it as a “restricted area.”
“The floor immediately behind the door sloped sharply to the left at a downward angle. The slope of the floor caused a change in height of the floor of approximately 6 inches. There were no signs or markings on the floor to indicate such a slope existed,” Banes said.
Banes said Degayo didn’t notice the slope, which caused her to fall and injure her left foot. The DFS employee then escorted Degayo to the CPA’s security office, from where on-duty CPA police officers called for paramedics, who told her that she had sprained her left foot and that she should wrap it in ice.
But the pain and swelling of her left foot persisted, prompting Degayo to consult physicians at the Commonwealth Health Center four days later. Banes said that physicians discovered a bone on the foot broken after performing an X-ray.
Banes said the injury resulted in Degayo’s frequent visit to physicians, who advised her that surgery might be needed.
