<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Office worker sues after elevator fall

Employee seeks money due to stress-induced heart attack

By Aimee Green, The Oregonian
Published: March 30, 2017, 9:15pm

A downtown Portland office worker filed a $4 million lawsuit last week after she said an elevator in which she was riding plummeted three or four floors, causing her to suffer a stress-induced heart attack.

Carol Thornberg’s lawsuit states that when a rescuer tried to open the doors of the elevator, it began shaking violently and slipped downward — and shook for more than 30 minutes until she was rescued.

Thornberg is suing elevator company Thyssenkrupp, claiming the company had knowledge of a problem with the elevator. The company declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

But company spokeswoman Kellie Harris offered this statement: “At Thyssenkrupp Elevator, the safety of everyone who uses the elevators, escalators and moving walkways we maintain is our first priority.”

Thornberg also is suing the Executive Building, 811 S.W. 6th Ave., claiming management allowed people to use the elevator even though it had been experiencing problems earlier that day, July 9, 2015. A representative for the building didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Thornberg works for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality as an assistant to the administrator, according to DEQ’s website.

According to Thornberg’s lawsuit, she got into the elevator on the 11th floor and pushed the button for the lobby. That’s when the elevator shook and abruptly dropped, falling rapidly and jolting to a halt, then plummeting twice more in that fashion, the suit states. The elevator became stuck between the 7th and 8th floors — then shook and started slipping downward during the first attempt to rescue her, the suit states.

“When the elevator doors were finally opened, a large group of onlookers had gathered,” the suit states. “(Thornberg) was extremely panicked and was having trouble breathing.”

The suit states that DEQ’s health and safety officer and the division administrator helped Thornberg to a stairwell, before she “collapsed and cried for a period of time” and then eventually walked down to the lobby.

The suit states that a co-worker helped her onto a MAX train to travel to the Portland Expo Center, where her car was parked. She drove home from there, then realized she needed to go to the hospital. Medical staff told her she suffered a stress-induced heart attack, and she underwent surgery, according to the suit.

Thornberg’s suit states she is still being treated for the effects of the heart attack. Her suit seeks $2 million from the building and $2 million from Thyssenkrupp for her pain and suffering.

Attorneys for the Dolan Law Group in Portland filed the suit on behalf of Thornberg in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

Loading...