Wedding Photographer Sues Venue for $577K After She Fell and Broke Her Knee

A wedding photographer in Australia is suing a wedding venue and styling company for over $500,000 after she slipped on a piece of fabric and shattered her knee—an incident she says could have been avoided and has cost her hundreds of thousands in lost work.

In 2017, photographer and cinematographer Bernadette Draffin was shooting a wedding at the Cherbon Waters Equestrian Centre in Brisbane when she slipped on a sash that came loose from around a guest’s chair, breaking her knee in four places. She told the Daily Mail Australia that the injury required surgery and months of physical therapy, took a toll on her personal life at home, and has hurt her ability to work as a photographer.

She tells the Daily Mail that she’s “still struggling” from the accident, is unable to do more than one wedding per week, and must now pay an assistant “at least $1,500 per wedding” just to help her get around. In all she’s seeking damages to the tune of $577,164, including $100,000 for lost income and $258,030 for potential future income that she won’t be able to earn.

Draffin is reportedly suing both the Cherbon Waters venue and the styling company, Captivating Moments, claiming that they are both to blame for her injury—the venue for failing to address the loose pieces of fabric after they were allegedly told that they were a potential hazard and should be picked up, and the styling company for not properly securing the fabric to the chairs.

Ms. Draffin’s lawyer, James Hickman, tells The Courier Mail that he hopes the accident “will serve as a cautionary tale to all companies involved in wedding planning to be extra vigilant about the safety of their guests.”

We’ve reached out to Ms. Draffin and the Cherbon Waters venue for comment on this story, and will update our coverage if and when we hear back.

(via Inside Imaging)

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