Carlson v. Board of Regents

In Carlson v. Board of Regents, 47 Ill.Ct.Cl. 171 (1994), the Claimant was injured when she slipped on a wet tile floor while exiting a shower-bathroom in her university dormitory. A pair of lady's soaked trousers hanging on a wall hook had created the puddle of water she slipped on. Id. at 172. The university had received complaints from dorm residents about students who tended to do their laundry in the bathrooms rather than in laundry facilities. The Carlson Court found the Respondent negligent, as the water puddle in a dark area without a handrail posed a dangerous condition and that the Respondent had constructive notice of the dangerous condition: "Had its employees responded to students' complaints as to laundering of clothes in the washroom, the State would have discovered the wet condition of the exit passageway." Id. at 174.