An office worker, who sustained serious physical and psychological injuries after the lift she was travelling in fell twenty-three floors, has been awarded more than 13 million dollars in compensation for an accident in a lift.
Janice Beasley (41) from Jacksonville in Florida was alone in the lift when her ordeal began. Travelling down from her office, the lift she was in started to fall – stopping on the eighth floor of the building. An engineer was called to attend to the malfunction, but rather than remove Janice from the lift, he sent it falling all the way to the basement.
Janice suffered multiple bruising in her lift accident which developed into Complex Regional Pain Disorder (CRPS) and partial paralysis of her left leg. Janice was also diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to her experience and chronic depression due to her lack of mobility.
After seeking professional legal advice, Janice made a claim for accident in a lift compensation against the owners of the office block in which she worked – Highwoods Properties Inc – and the Schindler Elevator Company, who had dispatched the engineer to deal with the malfunction.
Schindler Elevator Company denied their liability for Janice´s injuries and delayed the progress of the case trial for several years with complex legal arguments; however after a two-week trial at the Duval County Courthouse, a jury found in Janice´s favour and awarded her 13,188,000 dollars in compensation for her accident in the lift.