$1.5 Million Settlement for Elevator Misleveling Fall in New York City

Diana McLaughlin was stepping into an elevator when the car floor sat roughly one and a half to two feet below the building's landing. The gap opened without warning. She fell, sustaining injuries that became the basis of a premises liability claim against Thyssen Dover Elevator Company and related entities, which held exclusive responsibility for maintaining and repairing the elevator.

An inspection of the elevator's service records after the accident revealed recurring faults in the level-up, level-down, and door-zone relays. Those relays govern whether the car stops flush with a floor. The plaintiff's expert reviewed Thyssen Dover's own repair tickets and found that conditions affecting the leveling function had been documented before McLaughlin's fall, giving the company reason to know the elevator was unsafe.

Thyssen Dover moved for summary judgment in Bronx County Supreme Court, arguing there was insufficient evidence of notice. The court denied the motion in October 2013. Thyssen Dover appealed, and in May 2014 the Appellate Division, First Department, affirmed. The panel found that the plaintiff had raised a genuine dispute over whether the defendants, through those repair records, had constructive notice of the dangerous condition. The panel also noted that expert testimony created a conflict over whether the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur applied.

With the case headed for trial, the parties reached a settlement of $1.5 million in 2017. The defendant replaced the faulty relays after the accident, a remedial measure the litigation helped bring to light. Attorney Matthew T. Gammons of Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers represented the plaintiff throughout the litigation and settlement.