Cemetery owner, operator face claim over injury allegedly caused by room lights being shut off

The owners and operators of a Skokie cemetery are being sued by a man who claims the lights in a room were turned off while he was visiting, causing him to fall and injury himself.

James Arthur filed a lawsuit April 30 in the Cook County Circuit Court against SCI Illinois Services Inc., Memorial Park Cemetery and an unidentified agent, citing negligence and vicarious liability.

The complaint states Arthur and his family visited the cemetery owned and operated by SCI Illinois Services and Memorial Park Cemetery on April 14, 2009 to pay respects to a departed family member.

He claims that when he stopped to look at an urn displayed within a room, an unidentified agent turned off the lights, which caused the plaintiff to trip and fall over a platform.

Arthur is seeking more than $100,000 in damages and is being represented in the case by Troy C. Owens and Brian M. Laughlin of Owens & Laughlin LLC.

Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2014L004749.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.