According to a civil complaint that was filed on Jan. 8 in Cook County Circuit Court, a man has filed a lawsuit against two companies for injuries he allegedly sustained. According to the filed documents, the alleged injury incident occurred on Apr. 4, 2013, at a gas station located at 1118 Touhy Avenue in Park Ridge.
The plaintiff is alleging that he had stepped out of his vehicle on that date, intending to go inside of the convenience store. As he neared the doors, the door to an ice machine slammed shut, hitting his shoulder and allegedly knocking him to the ground.
The Illinois man’s complaint alleges several grounds against the two defendants, Thorntons, Inc. and Home City Ice Co. He is alleging the store improperly had the ice machine doors propped open, and that the two companies were negligent in the maintenance, repair and operation of the ice machine. Through the suit, the man is seeking more than $50,000 in damages from the two companies for injuries he allegedly sustained due to being struck and falling to the ground.
Property owners owe a duty of care to correct known hazards and keep property repaired and maintained. When hazards are known or an owner should have reasonably known about an existing hazard and failed to correct it, the owner as well as companies charged with maintaining the property may be held to be civilly liable in the event someone is injured. The liability arises through a legal theory called premises liability, which details the duty that is owed to customers and guests who come onto the property. Through filing a civil lawsuit, people who are injured by existing hazardous conditions on a property may be able to recover damages to compensate them for their losses.
Source: The Cook County Record, “Man says ice machine doors swung closed, hit shoulder,” Carol Ostrow, Jan. 15, 2015