By Liz Neely
STAFF WRITER


EL CAJON - A jury has awarded $261,000 in damages to an El Cajon woman who slipped on a wet tile floor at Parkway Plaza mall.

Margaret Wahlen, 48, fell Aug. 9, 2001, outside the McDonald's in the El Cajon shopping center. Her attorney, Thomas Penfield, said she has undergone more than 100 physical therapy sessions and a total of four operations to her shoulder and knee because of injuries she suffered.

Wahlen slipped on water trailing from the McDonald's out into the mall, Penfield said, and the terrazzo tile floor made the water nearly invisible.

A spokeswoman for Westfield Corp., which owns Parkway Plaza, said the company does not comment on lawsuits. McDonald's did not return a call.

The jury's decision came last week, Penfield said, after a two-week trial before Judge Lillian Lim in El Cajon Superior Court. In a 10-2 verdict, the jury assigned 51 percent of the blame to McDonald's and 49 percent to Parkway Plaza. The jury determined Wahlen was entitled to $61,000 for medical bills and $200,000 for pain and suffering.

Wahlen worked for 15 years as the choral director at an East County private school. She sings Christian hymns at churches in the region and in other states.