Man who sustained torn ligament due to protruding sewer cover sues City of Phila.

A pedestrian who claims he sustained a ligament tear in his knee after he tripped over a

sewer cover that was protruding from the ground has filed a premises liability complaint against the City of Philadelphia.

City resident Corey Mitchell claims in his lawsuit, which was filed at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas July 23 by attorney Jeffrey S. Simons, of the firm Zarwin, Baum, DeVito, Kaplan, Schaer & Toddy, that while walking along the 5300 block of Mascher Street at about 8 in the evening on Oct. 3 of last year, he tripped and fell over the protruding sewer cover.

The lawsuit claims that the situation was made worse by the fact that the area in question was poorly lit, something that contributed to the hazardous condition.

“Despite the aforementioned dangerous and defective conditions, the Defendant failed to erect or install any barriers, signs, lighting, or other warnings to persons, such as plaintiff,” the complaint states.

The lawsuit states that the city should have known that a person such as the plaintiff would lawfully traverse the premises and that those individuals would be unaware of the dangerous condition in question.

As a result of his fall, Mitchell sustained a tear to his right medial collateral ligament, an injury that has caused him and will continue to cause him “great pain and suffering,” the suit alleges.

The lawsuit claims that Mitchell has had to spend money on medical care and that his injury has prevented him from attending to his regular duties and activities.

The complaint accuses the city of negligence for failing to provide a safe walkway for pedestrians, failing to discover a dangerous and hazardous condition, failing to properly inspect the premises, failing to provide adequate lighting on the premises, failing to repair the dangerous condition, failing to erect barricades or barriers to prevent access to the dangerous condition and failing to properly hire and train city workers.

Mitchell seeks a judgment in excess of $50,000, in addition to interest, costs, attorney’s fees and other court relief.

Mitchell has demanded a jury trial.

 

The case ID number is 120702986.