The Town of Warrenton had recently completed its new visitor center in 2007 when Harold Spencer fell into a 19th-century cistern featured as part of the entrance plaza. Mr. Spencer was at the center for a meeting of a charitable foundation and upon leaving that night tripped over a 16-inch high brick edging surrounding the cistern. Mr. Spencer fell several feet and suffered a cervical fracture resulting in unconsciousness. He never awoke and three days later he passed away.
A wrongful death suit was filed by Mrs. Spencer and her attorney, Roman Lifson. In discovery it was revealed that the new building did not have a certificate of occupancy at the time of Mr. Spencer’s death. As it turns out, the building had failed four pre-opening inspections due to the fact that there was no guardrail surrounding the cistern. Despite these failures, the town decided to open the center without the certificate.
The defense argued that Spencer was contributorily negligent because the cistern presented an “open and obvious” condition and because he knew it was there. The risk at trial was great enough for the defense that they agreed to a $1.26 million settlement via mediation. Perhaps most concerning to them were the notes of the inspector singling out the lack of a guardrail and the extensive e-mail communications between town officials regarding the necessity of ones installation.
Mr. Spencer was 73 at the time of his death in 2007 and was survived by his wife and five adult children.
