Medical Center Hospitals v. Sharpless

This is a defendant’s appeal from a judgment entered upon a jury verdict awarding the plaintiff $20,000 in damages in a trip- and-fall case. The dispositive issue is whether the defendant, Medical Center Hospitals, t/a Norfolk General Hospital, was guilty of primary negligence in the construction and maintenance of a sidewalk on its premises. Because we find the evidence insufficient to establish actionable negligence, we need not consider the hospital’s contention that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence.

On the afternoon of November 2, 1980, a bright, sunny day, the…