U.S. Airways Seeks Transfer of Injury Suit to Federal Court
From the Pennsylvania Record
February 27, 2014
By JON CAMPISI
An attorney for U.S. Airways has petitioned a federal judge to take up a personal injury case that was initiated in state court by a woman who says she sustained severe knee and other injuries after tripping over a misplaced floor mat at Philadelphia International Airport.
- Lawyer Joseph R. Fowler, of the firm Fowler Hirtzel McNulty & Spaulding LLP, filed a removal notice at U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on Feb. 25 seeking to transfer a suit originally brought at Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas to the federal venue.
- The complaint alleges that plaintiff Janette Anderson injured herself on Feb. 1, 2012, at about 3:30 in the afternoon while walking in the check-in area at Philadelphia International Airport.
- Anderson says she fell to the ground after coming into contact with a mat that had been “crumpled on the side.”
- As a result of the incident, the woman claims to have sustained injuries to her left leg and both of her knees.
- Some of the injuries required Anderson to undergo surgery, the record shows.
- The plaintiff says she experienced pain, discomfort and limitation of motion, all of which may be of a permanent nature.
- The airport and the City of Philadelphia are also named as defendants in the litigation, which was filed by Philadelphia attorney James M. Turner, Jr. of Furia and Turner LLC.
- In his removal notice, Fowler, the defense lawyer, wrote that the matter qualifies for removal under federal diversity jurisdiction because the parties are citizens of different states.
- He also wrote that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000, another qualifier for removal to U.S. District Court.
- Fowler noted that attorneys for the city, who are also representing Philadelphia International Airport, have also consented to the case’s removal out of Common Pleas Court.
- The lawsuit, which also names Anderson’s husband, John, as a codefendant, faults U.S. Airways for failing to maintain the flooring on the premises in a reasonably safe condition and other acts of negligence.
The state case ID number is 140102371 and the federal case number is 2:14-cv-01127-BMS