A suit was filed for a Cook County minor by his parent against a Chicago utility company, claiming negligence in a 2014 wheelchair accident on a broken sidewalk resulting in broken bones and other injuries.
Brendan McMahon, by his mother and next friend Ann McMahon, filed a lawsuit against Peoples Gas Light and Coke Co., doing business as People’s Gas of Chicago, in Cook County Circuit Court on June 18 over personal injuries sustained in the October 2014 incident.
The suit states that the plaintiff suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and is confined to a wheelchair with limited use of his limbs. According to the filing, the defendant’s personnel performed work on or about Oct. 11, 2014, on gas pipes located underneath the sidewalk along West Patterson Avenue, where the boy’s family lives at No. 5644.
Brendan alleges that when he was on the sidewalk, his chair fell into an open area of concrete which had not been filled in by the workers. The child purportedly fell out of his chair, suffering external and internal injuries including a broken arm and leg.
The suit states that the defendant was negligent in permitting pedestrians to walk in the area, failing to warn them of surface defects, allowing conditions to remain uncorrected, and failing to cover the open pit with plywood or other material.
The plaintiff maintains that he has been hindered in attending to usual duties. Claiming pain, suffering and loss of a normal life, McMahon seeks damages in excess of $50,000 plus attorney’s fees and costs. He is represented by Alexander Memmen of The Memmen Law Firm in Chicago.
Cook County Circuit Court case number 2015L0006186.