PENNSYLVANIA RECORD

A Delaware County woman who claims she fractured her foot during a spinning class at a

Philadelphia-area YMCA due to a malfunctioning piece of exercise equipment has filed a personal injury claim against the Young Men’s Christian Association of Philadelphia and Vicinity.

Laura E. Stegossi, of Media, Pa., is suing the YMCA over a severe avulsion fracture to her right foot, and right ankle sprains and strains that she allegedly sustained back on Dec. 24, 2010, while taking a spinning class at a Philadelphia-area YMCA – the suit doesn’t specify which location out of the handful that exist within the city limits.

At the time, the right pedal of the stationary bike on which Stegossi was riding suddenly broke and detached, causing the plaintiff to fall downward and land directly on her right foot, according to the complaint, which was filed Nov. 12 at Philadelphia’s Common Pleas Court by Philadelphia attorney E. Merritt Lentz, of the firm Golkow Hessel LLC.

The incident also caused Stegossi to sustain residual neuroma, exacerbation of subscapular bursitis, and contusions and bruises throughout her body, the suit claims.

Furthermore, the plaintiff has suffered embarrassment, humiliation, inconvenience, aches and pains, restrictions on mobility and the loss of the ability to engage in and pursue normal activities of daily living, the complaint reads.

The lawsuit blames the defendant for keeping an unsafe stationary bicycle on the premises, and for failing to replace a defective and dangerous stationary bike with a newer and safer one.

“The negligence, carelessness, and reckless conduct of Defendant YMCA as herein described was the sole legal, factual and proximate cause of Plaintiff’s injuries and damages, which were due in no part to any act or omission by Plaintiff,” the lawsuit states. “As discussed herein, because Defendant YMCA engaged in reckless conduct with indifference to the rights and safety of others, including paying members and participants, such as Plaintiff, Defendant YMCA is precluded from asserting comparative fault.”

As a result of the incident, the plaintiff had to spend various sums of money on medical treatment and rehabilitative services, the lawsuit says.

Stegossi seeks more than $50,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, in addition to delay damages, interest, costs and other relief.

 

The case ID number is 121101064.