Dunbar woman sues over injury on Yeager Airport wheelchair lift

CHARLESTON -- A Dunbar resident is suing the Central West Virginia Regional Airport Authority after she claims she was injured on Yeager Airport's wheelchair lift.

Hogan Mfg., Inc., the company that designed and manufactured the wheelchair lift, was also named as a defendant in the suit.

On July 30, 2009, Winifrede Lynn Hamilton was in her wheelchair and was utilizing the wheelchair lift at the airport when it malfunctioned and caused her to be injured, according to a complaint filed July 6 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Hamilton claims the defendants had a duty to properly install, inspect, maintain and repair the wheelchair lift that malfunctioned.

The defendants also had a duty to properly supervise, educate, train and ensure that only authorized personnel who were qualified to operate the wheelchair lift did so, according to the suit.

Hamilton claims the defendants breached their duty by permitting unqualified personnel to operate the wheelchair lift that malfunctioned and caused her injuries.

The wheelchair lift is designed and operated for people who are disabled and it is imperative that the wheelchair lift operate properly and by qualified personnel so disabled individuals who are operating the lift are fully protected since they cannot protect themselves, according to the suit.

Hamilton claims the defendants breached the Americans With Disabilities Act by failing to provide her with a properly operating wheelchair lift.

She is seeking compensatory damages. She is being represented by Michael J. Del Giudice.

The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Tod J. Kaufman.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 11-C-1125