CLIFFORD PEARCE V. THE PEP BOYS – MANNY, MOE & JACK, INC.
CASE NO.: 03-04592 CACE 09
Defendant’s Attorney:  MICHAEL P. RUDD and H. JOSHUA DIAMOND

Slip and Fall Accident: This lawsuit arose from a slip-and-fall accident that occurred within the service bay area of a Pep Boys store in Pompano Beach, Broward County, Florida.  Mr. Pearce alleged that he had taken his vehicle to Pep Boys for replacement of a starter and that a Pep Boys mechanic instructed him to drive his own vehicle into the service bay.  Mr. Pearce further alleged that, once inside the bay, the mechanic asked Mr. Pearce to lift his own vehicle by grabbing under the front right wheel well and pulling up so that the mechanic could get the arms of a lift under the vehicle’s frame, which Mr. Pearce had intentionally lowered while customizing the vehicle.  Mr. Pearce’s allegation was that, during the course of attempting to lift his vehicle, he slipped on oil and grease on the floor of the service bay and struck his face, neck and shoulder on the hood of the vehicle before falling to the floor.  The mechanic disputed the above allegations, and asserted he had driven Mr. Pearce’s vehicle into the service bay, himself, and did not even know Mr. Pearce was in the service bay at the time of the accident because he was under Mr. Pearce’s vehicle attempting to get the arms of the lift under the frame.  It was undisputed that Mr. Pearce fell within the service bay, suffered an injury to his nose, and was transported by fire-rescue from the store.     

Mr. Pearce’s claimed injuries included a rotator cuff tear of the right shoulder, for which arthroscopic repair had been performed, a C5-6 disc herniation, for which a cervical fusion and plating was performed, a low back injury, for which a surgical discogram had been performed, and a nose injury.  At the time of trial, Mr. Pearce claimed to have incurred over $140,000 in outstanding medical expenses for treatment of the injuries sustained in the fall.  During litigation, Mr. Pearce had disclosed a prior right shoulder injury and arthroscopic surgical repair.

The case was defended on causation, arguing that all of Mr. Pearce’s claimed injuries preexisted and were not caused by the accident at issue.  

Plaintiff’s pre-trial demand was $750,000.00.

 The Court Dismissed the Case on the Fourth Day of Trial Based Upon Fraud.  

Specifically, the Court found that Mr. Pearce had intentionally failed to disclose a significant past medical history while under oath and that such conduct interfered with the Defendant’s ability to defend itself and the Court’s ability to impartially adjudicate the action.

During the course of investigating this claim, Defendant’s counsel obtained medical records from the Department of Corrections revealing a significant medical history involving all body parts Mr. Pearce claimed to have injured in the accident at issue.  Mr. Pearce had not disclosed any of this medical treatment during the course of discovery and was untruthful regarding his past medical history in deposition, in discovery responses, to Defendant’s IME physicians and to Mr. Pearce’s own treating physicians.