PITTSBURGH – A Pittsburgh couple allege that Allegheny General Hospital, its parking garage and one of its employees negligently allowed a parking gate arm to fall and strike the wife-plaintiff on the head, causing her severe injuries.
Alison Edfors and Eric Edfors filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Feb. 1 versus Allegheny Health Network (also known as “Allegheny General Hospital” and “AHN Highmark Health), James Street Garage (also known as “Allegheny General Hospital – James Street Garage”) and John Doe. All parties are of Pittsburgh.
“On or about Feb. 8, 2021, plaintiff Alison Edfors drove her mother to an appointment at Allegheny General Hospital. She parked in the James Street Parking Garage. When she returned to the parking garage, her vehicle would not start. She then contacted AAA for road-side assistance. AAA personnel arrived and were unable to start her vehicle. The disabled vehicle could not be towed within the parking garage and had to be pushed outside of the parking garage onto the street so that the tow truck could secure and transport the vehicle,” the suit says.
“Plaintiff Alison Edfors advised parking lot attendant defendant John Doe that the vehicle needed to be pushed through the exit. Parking lot attendant John Doe provided the plaintiff with a ticket to lift the gate when they got to the exit. An AAA employee got into the driver’s seat of the vehicle while the other AAA employee began to push the vehicle toward the exit. When they reached the exit, the plaintiff attempted to use the ticket provided by the parking lot attendant, but it did not work. Plaintiff notified parking lot attendant defendant John Doe that the parking ticket did not work. Defendant John Doe advised the plaintiff that he could control the exit gate and would lift the arm so that the vehicle could be pushed through the exit.”
The suit adds that as the AAA employees and plaintiff approached the gate to exit the parking garage, the parking lot attendant John Doe raised the gate.
“As the AAA employees and plaintiff Alison Edfors walked underneath the gate, plaintiff Alison Edfors was positioned behind the AAA employee pushing the vehicle. As she walked under the arm of the gate, suddenly and without warning the arm descended and hit her on the head causing her to fall to the ground and sustain serious injuries some of which are or may be permanent,” the suit states.
“After reasonable and diligent investigation, plaintiffs are unable to positively identify the identity of the individual working in the parking garage which caused this incident. Therefore, plaintiff is including a count against John Doe, the unknown individual working in the parking garage. Plaintiff reserves the right to amend this complaint upon confirmation of the identity of the parking garage employee referenced throughout this complaint as John Doe.”
The plaintiffs aver that the defendants failed to follow a host of safety protocols that would have prevented the subject incident from taking place.
For multiple counts of negligence and loss of consortium, the plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages in excess of the jurisdictional limits of compulsory arbitration.
The plaintiffs are represented by Michael D. Ferguson of Ferguson Law Associates, in Latrobe.
The defendants have not yet secured legal counsel.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-23-001570
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com