Woman alleges she fell after bench at bus shelter broke

A user of the city's transit system is suing over claims she sustained injuries when the bench she was sitting in at a bus shelter broke.

Jacqueline Johnson filed suit Feb. 16 in the Cook County Circuit Court against the Chicago Transit Authority, JCDecaux North America Inc. and the City of Chicago.

According to the complaint, Johnson was at the CTA bus shelter at 8700 S. Lafayette St. on March 10, when she sat on the bench and it broke, causing her to fall and sustain injuries.

She claims the defendants were negligent by allowing a defective bench to remain in the bus shelter, failing to inspect the premises to ensure it was safe and not warning of the dangerous condition, among other alleged acts of careless and negligent conduct.

Her three-count suit seeks at least $50,000 in damages from each of the defendants. Johnson is represented by Richard C. Sklare of Sklare Law Group Ltd. in Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2015L001711.

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 that a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt and represents only one side of the story.