Oregon Woman Settles Lawsuit Against Fred Meyer Over Leaky Roof Fall

A 71-year-old woman has reached an undisclosed settlement with the supermarket chain Fred Meyer after a fall in 2023 that she alleged caused a traumatic brain injury. Maria Torres was shopping for bananas at a Fred Meyer store in Portland's Hawthorne neighborhood when she slipped on a puddle of water from a leaky roof.

Surveillance footage showed Torres slipping backward and hitting her head. While she lay on the ground, an employee brought an umbrella to shield her from the continuing leak, and other employees covered the area with paper towels as customers waited for an ambulance. Torres was hospitalized for three days and diagnosed with a concussion.

According to court documents, Torres filed a lawsuit in May 2025, claiming that three years after the fall, she still suffered from headaches, tinnitus, and difficulty walking, at times requiring a wheelchair. Her attorney, Jason Kafoury, stated that the "life-altering" injuries forced her to quit her job cleaning buses and trains.

Torres sought $6 million in compensatory damages and approximately $27.5 million in punitive damages. Kafoury argued that Fred Meyer was aware of a decades-old issue with the roof, which also served as a parking deck, and that water from a floor drain had consistently leaked onto the shopping area near the checkout aisle. He claimed numerous employees knew about the recurring leaks, evidenced by the use of towels and buckets, and that the store continued to operate despite the known hazard.

Attorneys for Fred Meyer, including Aukjen Ingraham, denied liability. They contended that store employees were unaware of the puddle until Torres fell and that the leak had only been present for a few minutes, characterizing it as an "emergent issue" that occurred too quickly for staff to address. Ingraham presented surveillance video that appeared to show multiple customers walking through the same puddle without incident prior to Torres's fall. The defense also suggested that medical experts would testify that Torres had largely recovered from her concussion and that imaging did not show long-term injury, noting she had been cleared to drive without restrictions.