New Jersey Family Brings Personal Injury Action After Escalator Accident

By Greg Kohn
Partner

You do not have to be engaged in extreme behavior to be involved in an accident.  It is usually the case that accidents occur when you are involved in everyday tasks.  This was is exactly what happened when a young girl was injured while shopping with her family at Macy’s.

In August, 2013, a ten year old New Jersey girl went school shopping with her mother and brother at the Macy’s in the Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus, New Jersey.  While the three used the escalator to reach a higher floor, the girl’s foot somehow became trapped.  She was wearing high top laced sneakers at the time and is unsure how she became stuck, but for some reason was unable to free her right foot.  Her family did not know what to do and cried out for help while the escalator continued to move and her foot and then leg were crushed.  More than ten steps passed before a gentleman hit the emergency stop button.  He then went on to try to free the girl by removing the escalator steps with the help of another gentleman.  They eventually found that her leg was caught below the knee and that she was badly injured.  Emergency services arrived and freed the girl.  As a result of the accident, she lost two toes and has had 13 surgeries to repair the rest of her foot and leg.

Now, the girl’s mother and father have brought suit against Macy’s Inc. and ThyssenKrupp Elevator America Inc., the operator of the escalator.  It turns out that this escalator was installed in 1958 making it one of the oldest in the state.  The escalator was inspected shortly before the accident, but was not replaced, even though ThyssenKrupp found it to be making concerning noises.  The plaintiffs claim that the escalator was a danger to all who rode it and that Macy’s and ThyssenKrupp were negligent in allowing it to stay in operation.  ThyssenKrupp claims that they encouraged Macy’s to replace the escalator.  The plaintiffs claim that Macy’s should have allowed ThyssenKrupp to replace it and that ThyssenKrupp should have insisted upon the replacement.  Macy’s is claiming that both the plaintiffs and ThyssenKrupp are more at fault then they are.

If you have been injured in an accident, the Essex County, New Jersey attorneys at Nagel Rice can help you receive the compensation you deserve.  For a case evaluation, contact us at (973)618-0400 or (212)551-1465 today.

About the Author
Greg Kohn is a partner at Nagel Rice and specializes in complex civil litigation cases, including professional malpractice, personal injury, class actions, wrongful death, products liability, and commercial litigation.  He has extensive experience representing clients in both state and federal court. Greg has tried many jury trials to verdict and has recovered over $50 million in settlements and verdicts in all types of personal injury matters including automobile accidents, wrongful death cases, slip and falls, and other catastrophic injury cases. Greg also handles medical malpractice cases, involving misdiagnoses, wrongful birth, and delayed cancer diagnosis. If you have questions regarding this article, you can contact Greg here.