With the number of floors in many Cook County apartment buildings, having elevators to move up and down makes life a little more pleasant for tenants. When these elevators are offered in a building, the landlord is expected to keep the elevators in proper working order. When an elevator isn’t kept in proper working order, serious injuries can occur. A recent lawsuit filed in the Cook County Circuit Court alleges that the negligent maintenance of an elevator led to tenant injuries.
The lawsuit was filed against Nautilus Investments LLC Jeffery and Nautilus Investments LLC by a female tenant who says she was injured in an elevator at the defendants’ South Jeffery Boulevard apartment complex. The woman says that she fell over an uneven joint between the elevator and the floor. She says that the elevator wasn’t properly maintained, inspected and repaired, which allowed an uneven joint between the elevator floor and the building floor.
The woman says she suffered from nervous system shock, broken bones, lacerations and contusions when she fell to the floor when trying to get out of the elevator. She is seeking damages in excess of $50,000 for those serious injuries.
Anyone who lives in a building owned by someone else has the reasonable expectation that the building will be properly cared for by the owners or property manager. As this woman’s case shows, that isn’t always the case. Anyone who is injured because of negligent maintenance might be able to do as this woman did and seek compensation for any injuries resulting from that poor maintenance or neglect.
Source: The Cook County Record, “Tenant lodges complaint over alleged elevator injuries” Ben Hart, May. 22, 2014