PHILADELPHIA – An elderly condominium resident who was allegedly injured in an accident in her building says the defendants involved are blaming each other for the conditions which led to her accident, according to a recently filed lawsuit.
Betty Natalie Schwartz of Wynnewood filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on Oct. 19 versus Green Hill Condominium Owners Association of Wynnewood, Association Mid-Atlantic Management Corp. of King of Prussia, JKPR Architects of Philadelphia, C. Raymond Davis & Sons of Kimberton and Power Component Systems, Inc. of Camp Hill.
According to the lawsuit, Schwartz, 90, lives alone at the Green Hill Condominium complex in Wynnewood. Schwartz says she was injured on the complex’s premises on Nov. 1, 2016, due to a dangerous condition of the premises outside a common area elevator on the 10th Floor.
“The defendants each claim the others are responsible for the dangerous condition caused by renovation work performed and permitted by the defendants. In the meantime, Mrs. Schwartz – a 90-year-old woman who before the fall was entirely independent and had extraordinary exuberance and physical capacity – is still suffering from the injuries she sustained and the surgery she underwent,” the suit states.
According to the litigation, carpeting had been removed from an area in front of an elevator, causing a latent uneven surface and creating a hazard – this hazard led Schwartz to fall in the hallway.
“As a direct and proximate cause of the defendants’ negligence as described in this complaint, plaintiff [Betty] Schwartz sustained serious and permanent injuries, including a right (dominant) distal radius (wrist) fracture requiring her to undergo open reduction and permanent internal fixation of the fracture, but only after conventional casting treatment left the fracture “unstable and displaced in a cast”; extensive pain for nearly three weeks before the surgery, painful post-operative therapy, and continued physical and emotional pain and suffering since her fall,” the suit says.
Schwartz believes the defendants failed to take reasonable measures to make the premises safe for her and other pedestrians/visitors to the building, failing to warn her of the dangerous hazard in the hallway and failure to comply with both contractual obligations and industry standards and practices concerning inspection, detection, maintenance and elimination of any hazardous conditions outside the common area elevators on the 10th Floor at Green Hill.
For a lone counts of negligence against all defendants, the plaintiff is seeking individual damages from each defendant for compensatory damages in an amount in excess of the jurisdictional limits for arbitration, plus interest, costs and all other damages recoverable under the law.
The plaintiff is represented by Thomas More Marrone of More Marrone, in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 171002337
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com