CHARLESTON – A Kanawha County woman says a foot injury allegedly caused by a malfunctioning elevator door has hampered her ability to work and to care for her disabled son.
Daralene Duncan, her husband, Freddie Duncan, and her son, Codey Buzzard, filed a lawsuit April 22 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Kone Inc., alleging negligence.
According to the complaint, Duncan, a nursing assistant for CAMC Health System, had just transferred a patient on the elevator when the door slammed shut on her foot, causing a fracture on March 28, 2015. The suit claims the 1958 elevator, which had been allegedly maintained by Kone Inc., was supposed to have a safety device to keep the doors from closing on passengers. Duncan says it took her male co-workers five minutes to free her from the doors.
Duncan seeks a jury trial, compensation for permanent injury and impairment, and reimbursement for litigation costs. She is represented by attorney Chelsea E. Walker-Gaskins of the Gaskins Law Group PLLC in Charleston.
Judge Joanna Tabit is assigned to the case.
Kanawha Circuit Court Case number 16-C-607