Woman slaps Chicago Park District with suit over uncovered sewer

The Chicago Park District is facing a lawsuit from a woman who claims she fell in a sewer inlet and broke her leg.

Constance Williamson filed suit July 8 in Cook County Circuit Court against the Chicago Park District, alleging premises liability, negligence and willful and wanton conduct.

According to the complaint, Williamson was at Marquette Park, 6734 S. Kedzie Ave. in Chicago, on June 23, when she fell in a sewer inlet that had no cover and fractured her leg. She claims the condition had existed for a long enough time that grass and weeds grew over the inlet where the cover would be.

The defendant is accused of carelessly maintaining the sewer inlet in an area used by pedestrians, carelessly constructing an uncovered inlet in an area used by pedestrians, failing to provide proper warning of the hazardous condition, carelessly operating the area and negligently failing to correct the dangerous condition.

Williamson is seeking $50,000 in damages and is represented by Chicago law firm of Gordon Centracchio LLC.

Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2014L007171

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in 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 represents only one side of the story.