Woman Who Fell Down at Outback Teen Center Two Years Ago Sues Town

Though it may not be ready to collapse, the former Outback Teen Center building harbors a hazardous stair inside its vestibule that, two years ago, caused an out-of-town woman to trip and fall, causing serious injuries, according to a newly filed lawsuit.

This likely is the “vestibule” in question, so the stair on which the Stamford woman tripped and fell would be inside. Credit: Michael Dinan

Stamford resident Patti Becker at about 1 p.m. on a Tuesday two years ago, while she was exiting the now-defunct teen center after an event, “fell from the single step riser in the entrance vestibule of the building and subsequently could not move unassisted,” according to the suit, filed against the town and teen center as well as the structure’s architects and builder, by her attorneys at Casper & De Toledo.

She had been “unable to see the single step because it was not clearly marked and was made of brick, which was the same or similar material and color as the flooring in the vestibule,” the lawsuit said.

Her injuries, some permanent, include left pubic rami fractures, as well as compression fracture of L4, left lower extremity radiculopathy, right low back pain, pain and suffering and emotional distress, the lawsuit said.

Becker additionally racked up medical bills, “sustained a loss to her earning capacity” and “will be forced to suffer a loss of enjoyment of life’s leisure activities,” it said.

The “tripping hazard” at Outback also has had a damaging effect on her marriage, according to the lawsuit. She cannot “perform her normal duties as wife,” it said, and her husband—also named as a plaintiff—“ has been deprived of the comfort and solace usually and ordinarily provided by a wife in good health and unimpaired vigor and strength.”

She’s seeking in excess of $15,000—a tipping point in civil lawsuit filings. It isn’t clear why it took nearly two years to bring the suit. Her attorneys could not immediately be reached. The building reverted to town property July 1 after the nonprofit organization that owned Outback failed to self-sustain, and a subsequent operator also failed.

Town officials now are trying to figure out its future use.

First Selectman Rob Mallozzi declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing pending litigation. He did note that “when you take on a building, it’s a responsibility and unfortunately some unforeseen things can come with it.”

Speaking in general terms and not about the new lawsuit specifically, Mallozzi said: “Now that the town is the owner over other organizations, people may look to the town of New Canaan to benefit from claims against the building that they may be more apt to bring.”

Specifically, the lawsuit said that Becker “was a public invitee on the premises” and that those in charge of Outback were negligent and careless in several ways: “The design and layout of the vestibule area was not reasonably safe; It failed to use proper safeguards or signs to identify the location of the single step, including using warning tape, landing and tread edges, or a different color or material for the step; It failed to provide handrails for the vestibule step; and it failed to provide three or more steps in the vestibule of the building to avoid a tripping hazard.”

Town officials received the complaint on Tuesday, and are facing a return date of Oct. 11, the court summons said.