Property manager says faulty light fixture caused concussion — $2.35 million settlement

Type of action: Products liability

Injuries alleged: Concussion with post-concussion sequelae

Court: Fairfax County Circuit Court

Name of mediator: Judge Thomas S. Shadrick (Ret.)

Date resolved: July 18, 2025

Special damages: $628,381.98 in medical bills

Attorneys for plaintiff: Amy Bradley, Juli Porto, Robert Stoney and Matthw Tsun, Fairfax, Blankingship & Keith

Description of case: The plaintiff was a property manager working in a nearly completed building. While at a management meeting, the lens cover of a seven-foot-long architectural light dislodged from its housing on the ceiling and struck her on the head. She suffered a concussion with post-concussion sequelae.

Investigation revealed that the light fixture had been defectively manufactured so the cover could not stay affixed to its housing. The owner of the building and the manufacturer ultimately replaced more than 80 lenses in the building to prevent further injuries.

The plaintiff filed suit against the building owner for breaching its nondelegable duty to invitees; the general contractor and electrical subcontractor for failing to correct a dangerous condition of which they had notice; and the manufacturer of the fixture and the distributor who sold the fixture to the owner of the building for breaching their respective implied warranties of merchantability and for their negligence.

The owner and contractors settled at mediation. The manufacturer settled two weeks later. The distributor settled on the eve of the plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment. The defendants requested that the amounts each individual defendant contributed to the settlement be kept confidential.

Robert Stoney, counsel for the plaintiff, provided case information.

[025-T-114]