Employee testified on her own behalf. She is a very pleasant, welleducated lady who I find to be very credible. She was born in Ireland and came to the United States at the age of 16 to enter a convent. She has spent the last 26 years working as a professor at the Missouri State University where she teaches Latin, Greek and Hebrew, along with other classical classes. She testified that in addition to her classroom work she spends several hours a day doing other work activities, including grading papers, responding to students' emails as well as other various tasks. Employee testified that she has to walk a lot on the campus of Missouri State University while performing her job. She testified she parks in the parking lot on the corner of Grand and National. Pictures of her parking lot were admitted into evidence as Exhibits 23, 24, and 25. Employee testified she parks far away in the parking lot to give herself more exercise. She also testified that during the school year she walks more at work and for work than she does personally. However, she also walks personally, sometimes going to the mall to walk if the weather is bad.
Employee testified she typically goes back to England and Ireland every other summer. She most recently went to England, Ireland and Israel the summer of 2017, just months after sustaining her accident, which is the subject of this workers' compensation claim. On that excursion she traveled by herself, flying from Springfield to Chicago to Heathrow to Dublin to Tel Aviv, and then back in the same order.
Employee testified that during the school year outside of work she does other normal household activities, including laundry and shopping, housekeeping and lecturing occasionally. She also attends church on a daily basis, going to Holy Trinity Catholic Church every day of the week except Wednesday, when she attends at St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton Church. Employee testified she typically does her grocery shopping at Walmart located on South Campbell.
Employee:
Injury No
On the date of the injury, Employee left Missouri State University campus and had driven to the Glen Isle Center where she went to the post office on some sort of personal errand. While she was at the Glen Isle Center she decided to visit some colleagues from Missouri State University whose offices were located in the Glen Isle Center. After leaving the post office she drove her car across the parking lot of the Glen Isle Center to the other end to be near the door of the Missouri State University offices. At the time she was going into the Missouri State offices she was going to talk with Guy Weber regarding something work related.
After parking her car and exiting her car Employee tripped on a parking island in the parking lot of the Glen Isle Center while walking toward the Missouri State University offices. Pictures were offered into evidence of the area near where Employee fell, including Employee's Exhibits 16 - 19, and 22. Employer also offered Exhibits showing where Employee fell, which include particularly the last page of Exhibit A, which was taken the day of Employee's fall by a responding officer. Through Employee's expert, Bruce Moore, further pictures of the area where Employee fell were offered as Exhibit 37. Through Employer's expert, Wes Wright, further pictures of the parking lot in which Employee fell were offered as Exhibit DD.
In looking at the picture taken most closely in time to the actual fall, Employee believes that she fell behind the gray car depicted on the fourth page of Employer's Exhibit A. Showing another angle of the same area, specifically where she fell, is picture 4 in Employee's Exhibit 37. Employee testified she was walking behind what is the red car in this picture and tripped over the portion of the parking island painted in yellow sticking out farther than the bumper of the red car depicted in picture 4 of Employee's Exhibit 37. Employee testified she did not see