Many people work in office buildings where they take an elevator to or from their workplaces. Their employer may rent space in the building and relies on the building management to properly maintain the elevators. The management company may in turn rely on an elevator maintenance contractor to keep the elevators in good working order. When they do not and a worker is injured while getting on or off an elevator or riding on the elevator, the elevator accident may be a basis for a third-party liability suit, in addition to a worker’s compensation case. These are some of the Illinois elevator accident suits I have worked on over the years:
- I represented a medical technician who tripped while getting off an elevator at her office building and suffered a rotator cuff injury. Both the building management company and the elevator maintenance contractor were responsible for her injuries due to inadequate maintenance of an elevator which had been the subject of repeated complaints.
- I represented an ironworker who was hurt in a construction accident when tripped while getting of a man lift at a construction site. The operator of the man lift failed to completely open the gates, creating a tripping hazard. He suffered knee and shoulder injuries.
Elevators are complex pieces of machinery, and the responsibility for maintaining them may be divided between the owner of the building, a management company, and the elevator maintenance company. Sorting out the responsibility for an elevator accident usually requires the assistance of an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer.