BECKLEY – A Fayette County woman is suing over claims she was injured when her boss instructed her to enter a rundown building.
Marlene Ford filed a lawsuit Oct. 9 in Raleigh Circuit Court against Appalachian Regional Healthcare Inc., doing business as Beckley Appalachian Regional Hospital, citing negligence.
According to the complaint, Ford was employed by Beckley Appalachian Regional Hospital as a laboratory technician on Oct. 22, 2012, when her supervisor instructed her to accompany him to another building to retrieve medical records and files to see if they could be shredded or needed to be moved elsewhere.
Ford says she expressed concern because the building was slated for condemnation and demolition, and it even had a chain across the entrance to indicate it should not be entered due to its poor physical condition, but her supervisor insisted.
The complaint states Ford retrieved the files but while walking down the metal staircase to exit the building, a stair broke, causing Ford to fall through the stairway, twist both ankles and land on her knee.
Ford says she sustained knee, leg and ankle injuries to both legs, including a fracture and ligament injury that required surgery to insert plates and screws and subsequent surgery to remove them. The defendant is accused of deliberate intent and negligence.
Ford seeks compensatory damages, interest and attorney fees.
She is represented by attorneys Robert B. Warner and Tammy Bowles Raines of Warner Law Offices in Charleston.
Raleigh Circuit Court case number: 14-C-971K
Lab tech says she was injured after boss made her enter rundown building
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