Be wary of people attempting to give you awards

Felicia Harris went to her daughter's elementary school for fifth grade graduation.  She was startled to be called to the stage to receive the school's "parent of the year" award.  Unfortunately, on her way to the stage, she slipped and fell on a tile center aisle that slopes from the auditorium to the stage.  Felicia suffered an epidural hematoma and also needed to undergo emergency laminectomy surgery.

She brought an action against the school after a safety expert determined that the discolored, 50-year old tile floor was so slippery because the fricition-creating asperities in the tile had exceeded their useful life by almost thirty years and had been completely worn away by improper maintenance.  The school system argued that summary disposition should be granted because it had no notice of the hazardous, slippery condition. The higher court agreed with the trial judge that the school had ample notice of the developing hazard, and had, in fact, created the hazard through improper maintenance procedures.