Plaintiffs Awarded More than $1 Million for Slip-and-Fall Incident at Chicago Train Station
February 18, 2009
(Chicago, Ill.) – A jury has awarded $1.3 million to plaintiffs in a case involving a slip-and-fall incident caused by a leaky ceiling at Chicago’s Ogilvie Transportation Center, a passenger terminal serving Metra’s Union Pacific District.
Rocco Ditrani, a bond trader, was walking through the train station when he slipped and fell on a wet spot caused by a leak in the building’s roof. The plaintiff and his lawyers said no warning signs were displayed to indicate that the water was present. Ditrani shattered his kneecap when he fell, which required surgery and physical therapy to rehabilitate, causing him to lose four months of work.
“This ceiling had been leaking for 17 years, and nobody did anything about it,” said Jeffrey J. Kroll of the Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll, who took Ditrani’s case to trial. “The building’s caretakers are finally being held accountable for their failure to protect the thousands of commuters that pass through the Metra station every day.”
The plaintiffs also were represented by Clifford Law Offices.
On February 17, the jury handed down a $1,187,624 verdict for Ditrani, and $123,000 in damages for his wife’s loss of society. The jury apportioned the majority of fault to the leasing agent, MB Real Estate Services, LLC, which had knowledge of the leaks. Testimony showed that MB did not want to use certain methods of protecting people from the leaking water, such as placing garbage cans to collect the water. Also found to be at fault was the company providing janitorial services to the building, ABM Lakeside, for its failure to clean up the leaking water.
The trial was presided over by Judge Carol Pearce McCarthy.
Rocco Ditrani v. MB Real Estate Services, LLC, and ABM Lakeside
Circuit Court of Cook County, Ct. No. 05 L 1963
(Chicago, Ill.) – A jury has awarded $1.3 million to plaintiffs in a case involving a slip-and-fall incident caused by a leaky ceiling at Chicago’s Ogilvie Transportation Center, a passenger terminal serving Metra’s Union Pacific District.
Rocco Ditrani, a bond trader, was walking through the train station when he slipped and fell on a wet spot caused by a leak in the building’s roof. The plaintiff and his lawyers said no warning signs were displayed to indicate that the water was present. Ditrani shattered his kneecap when he fell, which required surgery and physical therapy to rehabilitate, causing him to lose four months of work.
“This ceiling had been leaking for 17 years, and nobody did anything about it,” said Jeffrey J. Kroll of the Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll, who took Ditrani’s case to trial. “The building’s caretakers are finally being held accountable for their failure to protect the thousands of commuters that pass through the Metra station every day.”
The plaintiffs also were represented by Clifford Law Offices.
On February 17, the jury handed down a $1,187,624 verdict for Ditrani, and $123,000 in damages for his wife’s loss of society. The jury apportioned the majority of fault to the leasing agent, MB Real Estate Services, LLC, which had knowledge of the leaks. Testimony showed that MB did not want to use certain methods of protecting people from the leaking water, such as placing garbage cans to collect the water. Also found to be at fault was the company providing janitorial services to the building, ABM Lakeside, for its failure to clean up the leaking water.
The trial was presided over by Judge Carol Pearce McCarthy.
Rocco Ditrani v. MB Real Estate Services, LLC, and ABM Lakeside
Circuit Court of Cook County, Ct. No. 05 L 1963