Student sues advertising company for negligence

A 28-year-old man has sued an advertising company and two others for negligence which has rendered him paralysed in both legs. The plaintiff, Patrick Reynolds Yeboah, who was, until the accident, a student and surveillance operator at a casino in Tema, was hit by a billboard belonging to M Dex Company Limited, an outdoor advertising company.

Yeboah was a second-year student of the Zenith University College when the incident occurred on April 28, 2016.

He has, as a result, been rendered completely paralysed and unable to continue his education, fend for his parents, control urine and bowel movements, among other health complications.

Attached to the suit as defendants are the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assembly (LEKMA), the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) and the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC).

The plaintiff is asking the Human Rights Division of the High Court to award him GH¢4,500,000 for aggravated damages by way of his permanent paralysis, economic loss, loss of opportunities to full participation in life, nervous shock, pain and the injuries he suffered due to the negligence of defendants.

He is seeking a further declaration that the defendants owe him a duty of care, which duty of care has negligently been breached by defendants.

 Special damages of GH¢70,000, being the cost of medical and other related expenses incurred by the plaintiff, are also being sought in the writ of summons.

 Additionally, the plaintiff wants the court to award legal fees and costs, general damages for breach, as well as any other relief(s) the court may deem fit.

Statement of claim

The statement of claim averred on behalf of the plaintiff by his lawyer, Mr Francis Xavier Sosu, said on April 28, 2016, the plaintiff, “while walking as a pedestrian around the Palace Shopping Mall at Flower Pot Junction, Accra, a billboard under the management and control of the defendant fell on him and caused him substantial injury and subsequent paralysis”.

It said it was the duty of the defendants to ensure that the said billboard was maintained in a good and safe condition and did not pose a danger to pedestrians and other road users around the Palace Shopping Mall at Flower Pot Junction, Accra.

“Plaintiff would say that if the defendants had taken reasonable care, it would have occurred to them that the breach of their duty to maintain and keep the said billboard in safe condition could cause injury to the plaintiff and it is only the defendants that have a duty to explain why the said billboard fell on the plaintiff, causing him substantial injury, and plaintiff seeks to rely on the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur,” it averred.

Hospitalisation

According to the statement of claim, the plaintiff was admitted at the 37 Military Hospital where he underwent treatment and was finally discharged on May 15, 2016.

The medical report on the plaintiff from the Division of Surgery at the 37 Military Hospital states that he has a complete cervical spine injury and is unlikely to recover motor, sensory, sphincter and erectile functions.

His functional incapacity has been assessed to be 100 per cent, as well as 100 per cent erectile dysfunction.

According to the medical report, the plaintiff’s present degree of incapacitations was permanent.

Expenditure incurred

The plaintiff has so far incurred GH¢70,000 for his medical treatment.

According to the plaintiff, he continued to incur various expenditure and particularly spent GH¢350 every month on physiotherapy at the 37 Military Hospital, among other expenses.

He is averring that the injury has cost him the benefit of family life and basic necessities of life.

Responsibilities

The statement of claim said M Dex Company Limited managed and controlled the billboard around the Palace Shopping Mall at Flower Pot Junction, Accra.

It averred that LEKMA was the municipal authority that licensed the siting of the said billboard and had oversight responsibility to ensure that it was at all material times maintained and safe.

It said the GSA, by law, was required to promote standards in public and industrial welfare, health and safety and was under a duty to work with the advertising company and LEKMA to ensure the safety of all such billboards that were capable of endangering public safety.

On the NRSC, the statement averred that as part of its mandate, the commission had a duty to work with LEKMA and the GSA to promote road safety.

The plaintiff argued that unless compelled by the court, the defendants had no intention of taking responsibility for their action or compensating him for the injury caused him.