A Berks County woman is suing for injuries she received after falling on a sidewalk due to ice that was allegedly not treated by her apartment complex.
Dona Lyn Wails brought suit on Nov. 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Home Properties of Devon LLC, a New York company, citing negligence.
According to the lawsuit, Wails was a resident of the apartment complex owned and managed by the defendant. The plaintiff alleges on Dec. 12, 2013, she was seriously injured when she slipped and fell on the ice-covered pathway while walking from her apartment to her car on the pathway. The suit further states that the placement of the drain spout causing water to flow across the pathway to the storm drain was a dangerous condition giving rise to the accident and injuries sustained.
The lawsuit claims the defendants were reckless and negligent in allowing an ice buildup to occur across a pathway and other premises for which they were allegedly responsible. The suit states that the ice was not properly salted or otherwise treated and was no warning or cautionary signage to identify the dangerous ice buildup.
Wails claims that the defendant failed to properly maintain the pathway, treat or otherwise remove the ice, or to warn of the dangerous condition. The defendants are accused of being reckless, careless and negligent in creating and allowing the dangerous ice build-up to continue.
The plaintiff seeks damages of more than $150,000, plus costs. Wails is represented by attorney Jeffrey Dashevsky of Dashevsky, Horwitz, Kuhn, Novello, & Shorr, P.C. located in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case number 5:15-cv-06102-JLS