7-Eleven ordered to pay B.C. woman $907K after pothole injury

Crystal Tommy stopped to get a coffee at a 7-Eleven in Smithers, B.C., one early spring morning in 2018.

As she walked across the the convenience store's parking lot she tripped on a pothole, twisting her ankle and breaking it in three places — leading to years of health issues, according to a B.C. Supreme Court decision.

That decision ordered 7-Eleven Canada to pay Tommy, 37, about $907,000 in damages, with a judge finding the company liable for causing her injuries and the consequences of those injuries.

"Ms. Tommy is likely my bravest client," her lawyer Tyler Dennis wrote in a statement to CBC News. "This decision reinforces the principle that corporations, including major retailers like 7-Eleven, must be diligent in maintaining safe premises."

7-Eleven has denied liability for the incident and disputed Tommy's claims for damages. The company and its lawyer did not respond to requests for comment from CBC News.

The incident

Before the incident, Tommy had an active lifestyle and worked at a plant nursery, a physically demanding job that required lifting, planting and organizing 20 to 50 pounds of seedling trees for reforestation projects, according to B.C. Supreme Court Justice Emily Burke.

The ruling said on the morning the incident occurred, Tommy and her co-workers stopped in at 7-Eleven on their way to work in Smithers, a town about 670 kilometres north of Vancouver. 

After her fall, Tommy was taken to hospital where her foot was placed in a cast, before she began using an air boot for several weeks. 

But when the air boot was removed her ankle was swollen and she was unable to return to normal activity for months after the incident, according to Burke.

Tommy missed several months from work but returned in late 2018, according to the ruling. 

2nd fall

But on Christmas Day that year she had another fall, it said: After Christmas dinner at her mother's home, Tommy slipped down the outside stairs of the home and hit her back on the corner of the porch.

While Tommy testified that there was fresh snow, she said she was still limping from her earlier injury and her hips had become painful, which made it difficult to walk. Tommy said the pain started in the two to three months after her ankle injury.

Then in 2021, Tommy was in a car accident, according to the ruling. 

As she was driving one of her dogs to the vet, her vehicle slipped on black ice. She lost control and the car went into a ditch, the decision said. 

Tommy testified that she had gained weight after the 2018 incident due to her initial immobility and inability to resume her previous activities.

"Her stomach hit the steering wheel leading to a hernia. This required an operation in 2023. In addition, she had another surgery in 2023 to deal with an ovarian cyst, all of which created healing complications," Burke said.

Tommy had stopped working by late 2022 and in doing so lost her social connections there, which has taken a toll on her mental health, according to the ruling.

She sued 7-Eleven for future damages as she's expected to heal from surgical issues some time in the spring of 2026.

7-Eleven denies liability

7-Eleven Canada denied liability for the parking lot incident and the Christmas Day fall. The company maintained during the civil trial that Tommy didn't establish either injury was caused by or contributed to by 7-Eleven.

The company first argued it wasn't liable because the vehicle Tommy was riding in was parked over the pothole, but the judge found that it was not. 7-Eleven also argued the pothole wasn't deep and that the property "was reasonably safe for use."

But Burke said Tommy was "clear in her evidence that she fell down after tripping and twisting her ankle in a pothole that she had not seen," noting that Tommy's "testimony was not shaken on cross-examination."

To show it wasn't negligent, 7-Eleven had to provide evidence it had a "reasonable system of inspection and maintenance in place and evidence that the system was being followed at the time of the accident," Burke said.

7-Eleven's asset protection specialist, who is responsible for 300 7-Eleven stores in B.C., testified that each employee must take an online safety course and complete a five-question questionnaire, which included a section on "slips, trips and falls: exterior hazards."

But Burke found the company did not have any consequences for employees who don't complete the course. The company said it now asks employees to take the course, according to Burke.

Taking into consideration Tommy's health issues, Burke awarded her, among other damages, $494,000 for future loss of income, $175,000 for pain and suffering, $171,863 for future loss of housekeeping and $39,000 for past housekeeping.