A resident of Gulfport, Florida, has filed a lawsuit seeking damages exceeding $50,000 against her landlord for injuries sustained in a slip-and-fall accident. Kristi Palmieri lodged the complaint in the Circuit Court of the 6th Judicial Circuit in Pinellas County on September 5, 2024, accusing Cornelia C. Haerle of negligence.

According to the complaint, Palmieri was injured on July 16, 2023, while walking on the stairs of her rented housing unit at 3031 54th Street S., Gulfport. She slipped and fell on a “clear, wet, dirty slippery liquid substance” that had accumulated due to an improperly installed air conditioning unit lacking a drain tube. The fall resulted in severe injuries including a permanent facial scar and persistent headaches. “Plaintiff’s subsequent injuries…are a direct, natural, foreseeable, unavoidable, and proximate consequence of the original injuries sustained,” reads the complaint.

Palmieri alleges that Haerle failed to post any warnings or indicators about the hazardous condition on the stairs. The complaint asserts that Haerle had both actual and constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition but neglected to take corrective measures. Evidence presented includes prior warnings sent to Haerle by other residents about water accumulation hazards caused by faulty infrastructure. One such warning dated May 31, 2023, highlighted: “My AC does not have drain tube so water collects on stairwell causing slip and fall hazard.”