Garbage collector sues property owner over fall on ice

A garbage collector in Schaumburg is suing a property owner for injuries he suffered in a fall on ice.

According to a lawsuit filed March 16 in Cook Counry Circuit Court, Jack Grooms is suing Liu Ching-Cheun and Buenger-Ford Enterprises, doing business as the Sponge Reef bar. According to the lawsuit, Grooms was collecting trash on March 18, 2013, in the alley next to the bar, at 1230 Valley Lake Drive, when he slipped and injured himself on ice accumulated there.

"Those conditions were also caused and/or exacerbated by the fact that defendants improperly and negligently allowed a downspout on and about the premises at issue and in the alleyway to remain in an inoperable condition," the lawsuit states.

Grooms seeks damages in excess of $50,000, plus costs.

Grooms is represented by Michael I. Leonard of Leonard Law Offices of Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court case number 15-L-2675.