An Athens jury declined to award anything to a woman who fell through an unfloored section of an attic, crashing through drywall onto a car in the garage below, suffering lacerations, back injuries and a concussion.

Plaintiff Gladys Staley, 53, has not returned to work and continues to claim ongoing effects from the February 2015 fall, including post-concussive disorder, short-term memory loss and a sleep disorder, according to court filings.

Swift Currie McGhee & Hiers partner Pamela Lee, who led the defense, said the trial was bifurcated into liability and damages phases. The jury ruled against Staley on liability, so no damages were discussed at trial.

“Had we made it to the damages phase, she would have claimed a host of injuries, including what amounted to a [traumatic brain injury],” said Lee, who tried the case with firm associate David Smith.

Colbert, Georgia, solo Clark Gulley, who represents Staley, said his client has not decided whether to appeal.

The case was difficult for several reasons, said Gulley, noting that the defendant homeowner, Irene Gregg, is a “very sweet 90-year-old lady.”

He also said several jurors testified during voir dire that they had also either stepped through drywall or almost done so at some point.

“It was very hard to get the jury past liability,” said Gulley, observing that he had not been permitted to introduce evidence that Gregg had homeowner's insurance.

According to the lawyers and court filings, Gregg hired Staley as a housekeeper to run errands and to drive her to the store and medical appointments. The two became friends during the two months Staley worked for Gregg, and in 2015 Gregg offered to let Staley have some curtain rods stored in the attic above her garage.

Staley pulled down the attic stairs and climbed up, with Gregg following. Staley found the rods and said they weren't the kind she needed, and Gregg asked her to find a picture frame stored there.

Staley walked toward a pile of objects near a wall, not noticing that the plywood flooring did not extend to the wall.

As she stepped on to the drywall serving as the ceiling of the garage below, Gregg shouted, “Don't step there!”

But it was too late, and Staley slipped between the ceiling joists and fell onto the trunk of a car below, doing “significant damage” to the vehicle, the complaint said.

Lee said she was treated and released at the local hospital and ultimately accrued about $40,000 in medical bills.

Gregg's homeowner policy carrier, Auto Owners, denied coverage, claiming there was no defect in the garage's construction that caused the accident, Gulley said. She sued Gregg for negligence in Athens-Clarke County State Court.

A mediation failed to resolve the dispute, and there were no offers of settlement on either side, Lee said. The case went to trial March 26 before Judge Charles Auslander III.

Lee said she relied on the testimony of engineer Bart Barrett with Nelson Forensics, who “basically testified that the attic comported with all the relevant building codes and standards.”

After two days of trial, the jury took just under an hour to find no negligence, Lee said.   

She did not speak to jurors afterward.

“I think the jury just thought it was a tragic accident,” said Gulley. “I don't think they could find it their heart to blame [Gregg] for the fall.”

“It was a fair trial,” he said, “and Pamela Lee is an outstanding lawyer.”