We all go to the casino in hopes that we will win it big on the slots or on the tables. For some people going to the casino and playing these games is just plain fun, but for most of us, we want to win big to make it worth it. No matter what your game is, there's always hope that you'll win it big.
For many, it's these hopes of winning that keeps them coming back for more and more. Of course, the casinos themselves don't want you to win at all. They'd rather you never win as long as you kept spending your money. It's safe to say that the casino isn't too happy when you win the jackpot.
That's what is hilarious about this story, even though it has some tragic elements as well. This story is all about the fact that the casino lost a lot of money from one unlucky guest. The game wasn't poker or the slot machines. In fact, it wasn't a game at all. The money came from a lawsuit.
This story all went down at Jack Casino when a woman ended up slipping at the casino. Did she slip on the wet floor? Not exactly. In fact, the truth of what she fell on is quite ironic. She fell on a collapsed "wet floor" sign. You see, those wet floor signs do a great job when they are fully upright. Not so much when they blend in with the floor. The woman was awarded $3 million dollars in her court case against the casino, which is quite the jackpot.
In September 2016, Lynda Sadowski was in the casino when she fell on the flattened "wet floor" sign. Matt Nakajimi, Sadowski's attorney, says that another customer had knocked over the sign, and just moments before Sadowski slipped on it, a worker at the casino had neglected to pick it up.
The spill that Sadowski took wasn't just a simple fall. She ended up with a broken knee cap which required metal parts to be implanted in her knee. Understandably, she now has limited mobility as well as arthritis in her knee. She may even require additional surgeries. According to Nakajima, "The casino had no safety policies in place for floor inspection or fall prevention and had no criticism of the employee's failure to pick up the trip hazard even though its own internal documents found her at fault. The Casino's callous disregard for their customers' safety was on full display throughout the trial."
Of course the casino did not like that argument. They had stated that Sadowski had failed to recognize her surroundings. The jury obviously did not agree with that assessment, especially since the sign should have been upright.
According to the casino's defense, "(Sadowski) cannot recover for her injuries because she had superior or equal knowledge of the alleged hazard." The jury concluded that the failure was in the casino's hands who had failed to make the environment safe. The $3 million dollars may seem like a steep price, but if you consider the fact that Sadowski's quality of life will never be the same following the injury, it's a reasonable amount to pay. It's possible the jury also didn't have much sympathy for the casino.
Although lifelong pain isn't something anyone would ask for, the $3 million dollars will certainly help. As for what happened to the employee who neglected to pick up the sign, it is unclear what happened to them. It's possible they no longer have a job after that million dollar mistake.
